February 28

Through My Eyes

Saturday February 28

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he describes the outcome of 'negotiations' with the Chinese government. )

" What was most alarming, however, was that Ngabo had not been empowered to sign anything on my behalf, only to negotiate. I had kept the seals of state with me at Dromo to ensure that he could not. So he must have been coerced. But it was several more months before I heard the whole story. In the meantime, all we had to go on was the radio broadcast (repeated several times), together with a number of self-congratulatory sermons about the joys of Communism, the glory of Chairman Mao, the wonders of the People's republic of China and all the good things that the Tibetan people could look forward to now that our destinies were united. It was quite silly.

The details of the Seventeen-Point ' Agreement' were chilling all the same. Clause Two announced that the ' Local Government' of Tibet would 'actively assist the People's Liberation Army to enter Tibet and consolidate the national defense'. This meant, so far as I could judge, that our forces were expected to surrender at once. Clause Eight continued the theme by saying that the Tibetan army was to be absorbed into the Chinese army- as if such a thing were possible. Then in Clause fourteen we learned that , from now on, Tibet was to be deprived of all authority over the conduct of her external affairs. Interspersed with these more telling clauses were others assuring Tibet of religious freedom and protecting my position and the present political system. But for all these platitudes on thing was clear: from now on, the Land of Snows answered to the People's Republic of China.

As the unhappy reality of our position began to sink in, several people, notably Takster Rinpoche in a long letter from Calcutta, urged me to leave for India at once. They argued that the only hope for Tibet lay in finding allies to help us fight the Chinese. When I reminded them that our missions to India, Nepal, Great Britain and the United States had already been turned back, they countered that once these countries realised the gravity of the situation, they would be sure to offer their support. They pointed out that the United States was implacably opposed to Communist expansionism and was already fighting a war in Korea for that very reason. I could see the logic of their arguments but somehow felt the fact that America was already engaged in fighting on one front lessened the likelihood of her wanting to open up a second.

A few days later, a long telegram arrived from the delegation in Peking. It did not say very much beyond reporting what we had already heard on the radio. Obviously Ngabo was being prevented from telling the truth. Recently, some members of the delegation have related in their memoirs the full story of how they were forced to sign the 'Agreement' under duress and use counterfeit seals of the Tibetan state. But from Ngabo's telegram I could only guess at what had happened. However, he did say that the new Governor-General of Tibet, General Chaing Chin-wu, was en route to Dromo via India. We should expect him shortly.

There was nothing to do but wait. In the meantime, I received the abbots of the three great university monasteries, Ganden, Drepung and Sera, who had recently arrived. Having been told about the Seventeen-Point 'Agreement', they urged me to return to Lhasa as soon as possible. The Tibetan people were most anxious that I should return, they said. They were supported in this by both Lukhangwa and Lobsang Tashi, who had sent messages with them, and the majority of government officials.

A few days later, I heard once more from Takster Rinpoche, who had apparently succeeding in making contact with the American Consulate in Calcutta and been granted permission to visit the United States. Again he urged me to come to India, saying that the Americans were anxious to make contact with Tibet. He suggested that if I were to go into exile, some arrangement for assistance could be negotiated between our two Governments. My brother concluded his letter by saying that it was imperative that I should arrive in India as soon as possible, adding that the Chinese delegation was already in Calcutta, en route to Dromo. The implication here was that if I did not make a move immediately, it would be too late.

At about this time, I also received a letter in a similar vein from Heinrich Harrer, who had left Lhasa just before me and was now in Kalimpong. He firmly stated his view that I should seek exile in India -and was supported in this by a few of my officials. However, Ling Rinpoche was equally adamant that I should not.

So now I was faced with a dilemma. If my brother's letter was anything to go by, it seemed that there might, after all, be some hope of winning foreign support. But what would this mean for my people? And if I did, would our new-found allies see us through thick and thin? As I pondered these thoughts, I continuously came up against two particular considerations. Firstly, it was obvious to me that the most likely result of a pact with America or anyone else was war. And war meant bloodshed. Secondly, I reasoned that although America was a very powerful country, it was thousands of miles away. China on the other hand, was our neighbour and , whilst materially less powerful than the United States, easily had numerical superiority. It might therefore take many years to resolve the dispute by armed struggle.

Furthermore, America was a democracy and I could not believe that her people would put up with unlimited casualties. It was easy to imagine a time when we Tibetans would be on our own once more. The result would be the same, China would have her way and, in the interim, there would have been the loss of countless lives, Tibetan, Chinese and American, all to no purpose whatever. I therefore concluded that the best course of action was to stay put and await the arrival of the Chinese General. He must be human after all."

(How an compassionate leader thinks! 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 in our studio working on the design of your loom. Two as one we're almost set to test the weaving of the full width of a prayer flag. There's still a lot of stringing to complete but it's going quite well! I won't actually weave it fully though beautiful one. Once I'm certain that everything is working properly I'll patiently spin waiting until you come. The design without using the combs is working fine. I'm glad about this because it looks better without a bunch of plastic stuck on it. Then I headed up to the Grove to continue pruning. It is still hard to tell how things are yet so I'm pruning carefully. Two as one, we are going to try something to help things up there. It's a very shamanic use of cosmic energy! We'll read about it tomorrow in the book Secrets of the Soil which I now have. It turns out we had a copy of it already in our studio! I'm going to put the pages on our infosite and work a bit 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 28 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he describes the outcome of 'negotiations' with the Chinese government. ) " What was most alarming, however, was that Ngabo had not been empowered to sign anything on my behalf, only to negotiate. I had kept the seals of state with me at Dromo to ensure that he could not. So he must have been coerced. But it was several more months before I heard the whole story. In the meantime, all we had to go on was the radio broadcast (repeated several times), together with a number of self-congratulatory sermons about the joys of Communism, the glory of Chairman Mao, the wonders of the People's republic of China and all the good things that the Tibetan people could look forward to now that our destinies were united. It was quite silly. The details of the Seventeen-Point ' Agreement' were chilling all the same. Clause Two announced that the ' Local Government' of Tibet would 'actively assist the People's Liberation Army to enter Tibet and consolidate the national defense'. This meant, so far as I could judge, that our forces were expected to surrender at once. Clause Eight continued the theme by saying that the Tibetan army was to be absorbed into the Chinese army- as if such a thing were possible. Then in Clause fourteen we learned that , from now on, Tibet was to be deprived of all authority over the conduct of her external affairs. Interspersed with these more telling clauses were others assuring Tibet of religious freedom and protecting my position and the present political system. But for all these platitudes on thing was clear: from now on, the Land of Snows answered to the People's Republic of China. As the unhappy reality of our position began to sink in, several people, notably Takster Rinpoche in a long letter from Calcutta, urged me to leave for India at once. They argued that the only hope for Tibet lay in finding allies to help us fight the Chinese. When I reminded them that our missions to India, Nepal, Great Britain and the United States had already been turned back, they countered that once these countries realised the gravity of the situation, they would be sure to offer their support. They pointed out that the United States was implacably opposed to Communist expansionism and was already fighting a war in Korea for that very reason. I could see the logic of their arguments but somehow felt the fact that America was already engaged in fighting on one front lessened the likelihood of her wanting to open up a second. A few days later, a long telegram arrived from the delegation in Peking. It did not say very much beyond reporting what we had already heard on the radio. Obviously Ngabo was being prevented from telling the truth. Recently, some members of the delegation have related in their memoirs the full story of how they were forced to sign the 'Agreement' under duress and use counterfeit seals of the Tibetan state. But from Ngabo's telegram I could only guess at what had happened. However, he did say that the new Governor-General of Tibet, General Chaing Chin-wu, was en route to Dromo via India. We should expect him shortly. There was nothing to do but wait. In the meantime, I received the abbots of the three great university monasteries, Ganden, Drepung and Sera, who had recently arrived. Having been told about the Seventeen-Point 'Agreement', they urged me to return to Lhasa as soon as possible. The Tibetan people were most anxious that I should return, they said. They were supported in this by both Lukhangwa and Lobsang Tashi, who had sent messages with them, and the majority of government officials. A few days later, I heard once more from Takster Rinpoche, who had apparently succeeding in making contact with the American Consulate in Calcutta and been granted permission to visit the United States. Again he urged me to come to India, saying that the Americans were anxious to make contact with Tibet. He suggested that if I were to go into exile, some arrangement for assistance could be negotiated between our two Governments. My brother concluded his letter by saying that it was imperative that I should arrive in India as soon as possible, adding that the Chinese delegation was already in Calcutta, en route to Dromo. The implication here was that if I did not make a move immediately, it would be too late. At about this time, I also received a letter in a similar vein from Heinrich Harrer, who had left Lhasa just before me and was now in Kalimpong. He firmly stated his view that I should seek exile in India -and was supported in this by a few of my officials. However, Ling Rinpoche was equally adamant that I should not. So now I was faced with a dilemma. If my brother's letter was anything to go by, it seemed that there might, after all, be some hope of winning foreign support. But what would this mean for my people? And if I did, would our new-found allies see us through thick and thin? As I pondered these thoughts, I continuously came up against two particular considerations. Firstly, it was obvious to me that the most likely result of a pact with America or anyone else was war. And war meant bloodshed. Secondly, I reasoned that although America was a very powerful country, it was thousands of miles away. China on the other hand, was our neighbour and , whilst materially less powerful than the United States, easily had numerical superiority. It might therefore take many years to resolve the dispute by armed struggle. Furthermore, America was a democracy and I could not believe that her people would put up with unlimited casualties. It was easy to imagine a time when we Tibetans would be on our own once more. The result would be the same, China would have her way and, in the interim, there would have been the loss of countless lives, Tibetan, Chinese and American, all to no purpose whatever. I therefore concluded that the best course of action was to stay put and await the arrival of the Chinese General. He must be human after all." (How an compassionate leader thinks! 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 in our studio working on the design of your loom. Two as one we're almost set to test the weaving of the full width of a prayer flag. There's still a lot of stringing to complete but it's going quite well! I won't actually weave it fully though beautiful one. Once I'm certain that everything is working properly I'll patiently spin waiting until you come. The design without using the combs is working fine. I'm glad about this because it looks better without a bunch of plastic stuck on it. Then I headed up to the Grove to continue pruning. It is still hard to tell how things are yet so I'm pruning carefully. Two as one, we are going to try something to help things up there. It's a very shamanic use of cosmic energy! We'll read about it tomorrow in the book Secrets of the Soil which I now have. It turns out we had a copy of it already in our studio! I'm going to put the pages on our infosite and work a bit 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!)