February 7

Through My Eyes

Saturday February 7

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he describes his journey to Dromo! )

" There was much to organise and it was several weeks before we left. Moreover, all preparations had to made secretly. My Prime Ministers feared that if word leaked out that the Dalai Lama was preparing to leave, there would be widespread panic. However, I am sure that many people must have realised what was happening as several large baggage trains were sent on ahead-some of which,unknown even to me, carried fifty or sixty strongboxes of treasure, mostly gold biscuits and bars of silver from the vaults at the Potala. This was the idea of Kenrap Tenzin, my former Master of the Robes who had recently been promoted to Chikyab Kenpo. I was furious when I found out. Not that I minded about the treasure, but my youthful pride was wounded. I felt that by not telling me, Kenrap Tenzin was still treating me as a child.

I awaited the day of departure with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation. On the one hand, I was very unhappy at the prospect of abandoning my people. I felt a heavy responsibility towards them. On the other hand, I eagerly looked forward to travelling. To add to the excitement, the Lord Chamberlain decided that I should disguise myself and dress in layman's clothes. He was worried that people might actually try to prevent me from leaving when they found out what was happening. So he advised me to remain incognito. This delighted me. Not only would I now be able to see something of my country, but I would be able to do so as an ordinary observer, not as Dalai Lama.

We left Lhasa at dead of night. It was cold but very light, I remember. The stars in Tibet shine with a brightness I have not seen anywhere else in the world. It was also very still and my heart missed a beat every time one of the ponies stumbled as we made our way stealthily from the courtyard at the foot of the Potala, past the Norbulingka and Drepung Monastery. Yet I was not really afraid.

Our final destination was Dromo (pronounced Tromo), which lay 200 miles away, just inside the border with Sikkim. The journey would take at least ten days, barring mishap. It was not long, however, before we ran into trouble. A few days after leaving Lhasa, we arrived at a remote village called Jang, where the monks of Ganden, Drepung and Sera were gathered for their winter debating camp. They realised as soon as they saw the size of our column that this was no ordinary move. Altogether we numbered at least two hundred people- of whom fifty were high officials- and a similar number of pack animals, and the monks guessed I must be somewhere there.

Luckily, I was right at the front and my disguise proved effective. No one stopped me. But as I rode past, I could see that the monks were in a highly emotional state. Many had tears in their eyes. A few moments later, they stopped Ling Rinpoche who followed me. I glanced around and realised they were begging him to turn back with me. It was an extremely tense moment. Feelings were running high. The monks had such faith in me as their Precious Protector that they could not bear the thought of my leaving them. Ling Rinpoche explained that I did not intend to be away for long, and reluctantly the monks agreed to let us continue. Then, throwing themselves down on the track, they pleaded that I should return as soon as possible.

After this unfortunate incident we had no further trouble and I was able to make the most of the situation by going on ahead, still in disguise, and using every occasion I could to stop and talk with people. I realised that I now had a valuable opportunity to find out what life was really like for my fellow countrymen and women and managed to have a number of conversations during which I kept my identity secret. From these, I learned something about the petty injustices of life suffered by my people and resolved as soon as I could to set about making changes to help them.

We reached Gyantse ( Tibet's fourth largest city), after almost a week of travel. Here it was impossible to maintain secrecy and hundreds turned out to greet me. A small posse of shabby but enthusiastic Indian cavalry, which provided the escort for the Indian Trade Mission, also presented arms. But there was not time for formalities and we hurried on, arriving at Dromo in January 1951 after a journey of almost a fortnight.

We were all exhausted. But personally I felt a tremendous sense of excitement. The place itself was nothing special, consisting in fact of several villages quite close together, but its location was spectacular. It lay just at the point where the Amo-chu valley divides into two, at around 9,000 feet above sea level."

( Given that it was in the foothills of the Himalayas it must have been incredible! 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 entire day working in our studio on the design of your loom working with finer thread similar to what we will be using. It was a bit of a struggle! It's tricky working with lots of fine threads all at the same time and keeping them organized. I attached some plastic hair combs to the sticks at either end of the model and strung the thread between them which helped quite a bit. Two as one we've made a lot of progress and actually wove a few rows that would be adequate for our first cloth! Then I set to work on the pages for you. You'll notice the usual changes. 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 7 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he describes his journey to Dromo! ) " There was much to organise and it was several weeks before we left. Moreover, all preparations had to made secretly. My Prime Ministers feared that if word leaked out that the Dalai Lama was preparing to leave, there would be widespread panic. However, I am sure that many people must have realised what was happening as several large baggage trains were sent on ahead-some of which,unknown even to me, carried fifty or sixty strongboxes of treasure, mostly gold biscuits and bars of silver from the vaults at the Potala. This was the idea of Kenrap Tenzin, my former Master of the Robes who had recently been promoted to Chikyab Kenpo. I was furious when I found out. Not that I minded about the treasure, but my youthful pride was wounded. I felt that by not telling me, Kenrap Tenzin was still treating me as a child. I awaited the day of departure with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation. On the one hand, I was very unhappy at the prospect of abandoning my people. I felt a heavy responsibility towards them. On the other hand, I eagerly looked forward to travelling. To add to the excitement, the Lord Chamberlain decided that I should disguise myself and dress in layman's clothes. He was worried that people might actually try to prevent me from leaving when they found out what was happening. So he advised me to remain incognito. This delighted me. Not only would I now be able to see something of my country, but I would be able to do so as an ordinary observer, not as Dalai Lama. We left Lhasa at dead of night. It was cold but very light, I remember. The stars in Tibet shine with a brightness I have not seen anywhere else in the world. It was also very still and my heart missed a beat every time one of the ponies stumbled as we made our way stealthily from the courtyard at the foot of the Potala, past the Norbulingka and Drepung Monastery. Yet I was not really afraid. Our final destination was Dromo (pronounced Tromo), which lay 200 miles away, just inside the border with Sikkim. The journey would take at least ten days, barring mishap. It was not long, however, before we ran into trouble. A few days after leaving Lhasa, we arrived at a remote village called Jang, where the monks of Ganden, Drepung and Sera were gathered for their winter debating camp. They realised as soon as they saw the size of our column that this was no ordinary move. Altogether we numbered at least two hundred people- of whom fifty were high officials- and a similar number of pack animals, and the monks guessed I must be somewhere there. Luckily, I was right at the front and my disguise proved effective. No one stopped me. But as I rode past, I could see that the monks were in a highly emotional state. Many had tears in their eyes. A few moments later, they stopped Ling Rinpoche who followed me. I glanced around and realised they were begging him to turn back with me. It was an extremely tense moment. Feelings were running high. The monks had such faith in me as their Precious Protector that they could not bear the thought of my leaving them. Ling Rinpoche explained that I did not intend to be away for long, and reluctantly the monks agreed to let us continue. Then, throwing themselves down on the track, they pleaded that I should return as soon as possible. After this unfortunate incident we had no further trouble and I was able to make the most of the situation by going on ahead, still in disguise, and using every occasion I could to stop and talk with people. I realised that I now had a valuable opportunity to find out what life was really like for my fellow countrymen and women and managed to have a number of conversations during which I kept my identity secret. From these, I learned something about the petty injustices of life suffered by my people and resolved as soon as I could to set about making changes to help them. We reached Gyantse ( Tibet's fourth largest city), after almost a week of travel. Here it was impossible to maintain secrecy and hundreds turned out to greet me. A small posse of shabby but enthusiastic Indian cavalry, which provided the escort for the Indian Trade Mission, also presented arms. But there was not time for formalities and we hurried on, arriving at Dromo in January 1951 after a journey of almost a fortnight. We were all exhausted. But personally I felt a tremendous sense of excitement. The place itself was nothing special, consisting in fact of several villages quite close together, but its location was spectacular. It lay just at the point where the Amo-chu valley divides into two, at around 9,000 feet above sea level." ( Given that it was in the foothills of the Himalayas it must have been incredible! 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 entire day working in our studio on the design of your loom working with finer thread similar to what we will be using. It was a bit of a struggle! It's tricky working with lots of fine threads all at the same time and keeping them organized. I attached some plastic hair combs to the sticks at either end of the model and strung the thread between them which helped quite a bit. Two as one we've made a lot of progress and actually wove a few rows that would be adequate for our first cloth! Then I set to work on the pages for you. You'll notice the usual changes. 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!)