June12

Through My Eyes

Saturday June 12

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of his travels through China.)

" I had a much better time with the Russian Ambassador, whom I sat next to at a banquet. In those days, Russia and China were firm friends so there was no danger of interference here. The Ambassador was very amicable and showed some interest in finding out my impressions of Socialism. When I replied that I saw great possibilities in it, he said that I ought to come and visit the Soviet Union. This sounded like an excellent idea and I immediately developed a strong desire to undertake a trip to his country-preferably as an ordinary member of a delegation. That way, wherever this imaginary delegation went I would go too, but, not having any responsibilities, I could spend the whole time minding my own business and just looking around. Sadly, the idea came to nothing. It was over twenty years before I was able to realise my ambition of visiting the USSR.. And, needless to say, the circumstances were very different from those I had fondly imagined.

On the whole the Chinese authorities were very reluctant to let me meet with foreigners. I suppose that I must have been something of an embarrassment to them. At the time of Tibet's invasion there had been widespread condemnation of the Communists from many countries around the world. This was a source of irritation to them and they were busy doing all they could to improve their image and show how their occupation of Tibet was justifiable both historically and in terms of a great nation helping a weaker one. But I could not help noticing how completely differently our hosts behaved when foreign visitors were present. Whereas habitually they were arrogant in their attitude toward foreigners, in their presence, they were very meek and subdued.

Quite a few visitors to Peking expressed an interest to meet me,however, including a Hungarian dance troupe, whose members all wanted my autograph-which I gave them. Also, several thousand Mongolians came to the Chinese capital hoping to see me and the Panchen Lama. This did not please the Chinese authorities, perhaps because the notion of Tibetans and Mongolians together was an uncomfortable reminder of how different things had been in the past. Not only had Tibetan forces extracted tribute from the Chinese in the eighth century, but Mongolia had actually ruled China from 1279 until 1368 A.D., following the successful invasion of Kublai Khan, the Mongolian warlord.

At this time, there was an interesting historical incident. Kublai Khan became a Buddhist and had a Tibetan guru. This lama persuaded the Mongolian leader to stop his practice of controlling the Chinese population increase by drowning thousands of them in the sea. In so doing, the Tibetan saved many Chinese lives.

During the winter of 1954 I went on an extensive tour of China, together with my complete entourage, including both my mother and Tenzin Choegyal, my youngest brother, to see the wonders of the industrial and material progress. I enjoyed this a great deal, but many of my Tibetan officials were completely uninterested in what was on offer and would heave a sigh of relief whenever it was announced that there was to be no 'sightseeing' on that particular day. My mother, especially, did not enjoy her time in China. Her unhappiness increased when, during an excursion, she contracted a fever which developed into quite a serious case of flu. Luckily my personal physician, the 'fat doctor' of my childhood, was with us. He was a very learned man and a great friend of my mother's. He duly prescribed some medicine for her which she took at once. Unfortunately, she misunderstood his directions and took in one go what should have been two separate daily draughts. This produced a strong reaction,which, on top of her fever, made her very ill indeed. For several days she was extremely weak and I became very concerned for her. But after a week she began to recover and, in fact, went on to live for more than twenty-five years. Ling Rinpoche also fell severely ill, but he did not make such a good recovery and it was not until after coming into exile that he fully regained his strength.

Tenzin Choegyal, who is twelve years my junior, was a constant source of delight and terror to everyone including the Chinese, who were very fond of him. Being extremely intelligent, he picked up fluent Mandarin in a matter of months, which was both an advantage and a disadvantage. He loved to see the grown-ups embarrassed. If ever my mother or anyone made a disparaging remark about one of our hosts, my little brother would pass it on without hesitation. We all had to be very careful of what we said in front of him. even then, he could always sense when someone was being vague or evasive. But he was so delightful that Trijang Rinpoche, my Junior Tutor, was the only person who succeeded in being reserved towards him, mainly I think because Tenzin Choegyal used to jump all over the furniture and he was worried about having to explain to the Chinese how it came to be broken. Ling Rinpoche was, on the other hand, an enthusiastic playmate for him. Personally I did not see a great deal of my brother, although recently he reminded me of an occasion when I found that he had fished all of the carp out of an ornamental pond and laid them out neatly beside it. He tells me that I boxed his ears hard."

( The lama that saved Chinese lives was Drogon Chogyel Phakpa, of the Sakyapa lineage according to our Footprint Tibet handbook; he actually resided in Beijing as the imperial preceptor to the Khan in the capital of the Mongolian empire! 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 spinning for you. After that I headed up to the hill to spray for awhile then returned to our studio to order a few things then headed back up to continue work in the Grove. The spraying equipment we two as one have put together is working although the tank is now quite heavy! Two as one we've pulled strongly together and gotten a lot done! After that I returned to our studio to glue together the shed roll for your loom and work on our a land of Tibet. Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes on the pages including a few links on our spinning page.I'm going to put the pages up 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 June 12 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of his travels through China.) " I had a much better time with the Russian Ambassador, whom I sat next to at a banquet. In those days, Russia and China were firm friends so there was no danger of interference here. The Ambassador was very amicable and showed some interest in finding out my impressions of Socialism. When I replied that I saw great possibilities in it, he said that I ought to come and visit the Soviet Union. This sounded like an excellent idea and I immediately developed a strong desire to undertake a trip to his country-preferably as an ordinary member of a delegation. That way, wherever this imaginary delegation went I would go too, but, not having any responsibilities, I could spend the whole time minding my own business and just looking around. Sadly, the idea came to nothing. It was over twenty years before I was able to realise my ambition of visiting the USSR.. And, needless to say, the circumstances were very different from those I had fondly imagined. On the whole the Chinese authorities were very reluctant to let me meet with foreigners. I suppose that I must have been something of an embarrassment to them. At the time of Tibet's invasion there had been widespread condemnation of the Communists from many countries around the world. This was a source of irritation to them and they were busy doing all they could to improve their image and show how their occupation of Tibet was justifiable both historically and in terms of a great nation helping a weaker one. But I could not help noticing how completely differently our hosts behaved when foreign visitors were present. Whereas habitually they were arrogant in their attitude toward foreigners, in their presence, they were very meek and subdued. Quite a few visitors to Peking expressed an interest to meet me,however, including a Hungarian dance troupe, whose members all wanted my autograph-which I gave them. Also, several thousand Mongolians came to the Chinese capital hoping to see me and the Panchen Lama. This did not please the Chinese authorities, perhaps because the notion of Tibetans and Mongolians together was an uncomfortable reminder of how different things had been in the past. Not only had Tibetan forces extracted tribute from the Chinese in the eighth century, but Mongolia had actually ruled China from 1279 until 1368 A.D., following the successful invasion of Kublai Khan, the Mongolian warlord. At this time, there was an interesting historical incident. Kublai Khan became a Buddhist and had a Tibetan guru. This lama persuaded the Mongolian leader to stop his practice of controlling the Chinese population increase by drowning thousands of them in the sea. In so doing, the Tibetan saved many Chinese lives. During the winter of 1954 I went on an extensive tour of China, together with my complete entourage, including both my mother and Tenzin Choegyal, my youngest brother, to see the wonders of the industrial and material progress. I enjoyed this a great deal, but many of my Tibetan officials were completely uninterested in what was on offer and would heave a sigh of relief whenever it was announced that there was to be no 'sightseeing' on that particular day. My mother, especially, did not enjoy her time in China. Her unhappiness increased when, during an excursion, she contracted a fever which developed into quite a serious case of flu. Luckily my personal physician, the 'fat doctor' of my childhood, was with us. He was a very learned man and a great friend of my mother's. He duly prescribed some medicine for her which she took at once. Unfortunately, she misunderstood his directions and took in one go what should have been two separate daily draughts. This produced a strong reaction,which, on top of her fever, made her very ill indeed. For several days she was extremely weak and I became very concerned for her. But after a week she began to recover and, in fact, went on to live for more than twenty-five years. Ling Rinpoche also fell severely ill, but he did not make such a good recovery and it was not until after coming into exile that he fully regained his strength. Tenzin Choegyal, who is twelve years my junior, was a constant source of delight and terror to everyone including the Chinese, who were very fond of him. Being extremely intelligent, he picked up fluent Mandarin in a matter of months, which was both an advantage and a disadvantage. He loved to see the grown-ups embarrassed. If ever my mother or anyone made a disparaging remark about one of our hosts, my little brother would pass it on without hesitation. We all had to be very careful of what we said in front of him. even then, he could always sense when someone was being vague or evasive. But he was so delightful that Trijang Rinpoche, my Junior Tutor, was the only person who succeeded in being reserved towards him, mainly I think because Tenzin Choegyal used to jump all over the furniture and he was worried about having to explain to the Chinese how it came to be broken. Ling Rinpoche was, on the other hand, an enthusiastic playmate for him. Personally I did not see a great deal of my brother, although recently he reminded me of an occasion when I found that he had fished all of the carp out of an ornamental pond and laid them out neatly beside it. He tells me that I boxed his ears hard." ( The lama that saved Chinese lives was Drogon Chogyel Phakpa, of the Sakyapa lineage according to our Footprint Tibet handbook; he actually resided in Beijing as the imperial preceptor to the Khan in the capital of the Mongolian empire! 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 spinning for you. After that I headed up to the hill to spray for awhile then returned to our studio to order a few things then headed back up to continue work in the Grove. The spraying equipment we two as one have put together is working although the tank is now quite heavy! Two as one we've pulled strongly together and gotten a lot done! After that I returned to our studio to glue together the shed roll for your loom and work on our a land of Tibet. Two as one we've fixed a few more mistakes on the pages including a few links on our spinning page.I'm going to put the pages up 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!)