June19

Through My Eyes

Saturday June 19

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

" Although my interest in China's material development was not shared by many of my officials, I was much impressed with what the Communists had managed to achieve in the field of heavy industry. I was eager for my own country to make similar progress. I was particularly taken with a hydro-electric power station that we were taken to see in Manchuria. It did not take much imagination to see that there were endless possibilities for this type of power generation in Tibet. But what made this particular trip so memorable was the expression on the face of the official who was showing me over the project when I asked him some pertinent questions about electrical power. Thanks to my work on that old diesel generator in Lhasa, I had quite a good grasp of the basic principles involved. I suppose it must have seemed incongruous for a young foreigner in a monk's robe to be asking about kilowatt hours and turbine size.

The highlight of this excursion came when I was taken on board an old warship, also in Manchuria. I was fascinated. No matter that it was so ancient and that I could not make head or tail of any of the instruments or dials. Just to be on board this giant, grey, metal structure with its peculiar smell of oil and sea water was enough for me.

On the negative side, I came to realise that the Chinese authorities had no intention of allowing me contact with ordinary Chinese people. Every time I wanted to break away from the programme or even just get out to see places for myself, I was prevented from doing so by the officials sent to look after me, always on the pretext of 'security, security': my safety was their perpetual excuse. Yet it was not only I who was kept isolated from the common people; so were all the Chinese from Peking. They too were forbidden to do anything independently.

However, Serkon Rinpoche, one of my tsenshap, always managed to get out and about. He never listened to anything the Chinese said to him and simply did what he thought was proper. And, perhaps because he was lame and quite inconspicuous, no one thought to try to stop him. He was thus the only one who managed to get an intimate picture of what life was like in the brave new People's Republic. I learned a great deal from him. He painted a very sombre picture of great poverty and fear amongst the population.

I did, however, have one very interesting conversation with a hotel porter whilst visiting an industrial zone. He told me that he had seen photographs of my departure from Lhasa and was pleased to know that my people had been so happy about my visit to China. When I told him that this was far from being the case, he was surprised. 'But it said so in the newspaper, ' he said, to which I replied that the situation must have been misrepresented as the truth was that the majority of my people had been utterly distraught. At this , my friend expressed shock and amazement. I,for my part, realised for the first time to what extent things were distorted in the Communist press: it seemed as if telling lies was in the blood of the authorities.

Whilst on this journey around China, I went over the border into Mongolia, where I traveled with Serkon Rinpoche to his birthplace. It was a very moving experience, which made me realise how closely related is that country to my own.

We arrived back in Peking in late January 1955, just in time to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year. As a mark of it's importance I decided to host a banquet, to which I would invite Chairman Mao and the other members of the 'Big Four', that is, Chou En-lai, Chu Te and Lu Rau-chi. They all accepted. During the course of the evening Mao was very friendly. At one point he leaned over and asked me what I was doing as I threw a pinch of tsampa up into the air. I explained that this was a symbolic offering, whereupon he took some between his own fingers and did the same. Then he took another lot and, with a mischievous look on his face, threw it on the floor.

This slightly sarcastic gesture was the only thing that spoiled an otherwise memorable evening,which seemed to hold out a promise of genuine fraternity between our two countries. Certainly , that was how the Chinese portrayed the event. To this end they had organised the usual battery of photographers, who were to record the scene for posterity. Some of the photographs were published in the newspaper a day or two later with glowing reports, emphasizing speeches that were made. These pictures must also have been syndicated to Tibet because, when I was back in Lhasa, I saw one of them was reproduced in a Chinese run-local newspaper. It depicted Chairman Mao and myself sitting together with my head turned towards him and my hands making some inexplicable gesture. The Tibetan picture editor of the newspaper had made up his own mind about what was going on and ran a caption to the effect that this was a photograph of His Holiness the Dalai Lama explaining to the Great Helmsman how to make Khabse (Losar cookies)! "

( The Dalai Lama would have been a lot less enthusiastic if he had known the Chinese were to put a hydroelectric project on 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.

Through my eyes

( Please see my spinning for you!)

( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day spinning for you then headed up to the Grove to spray. It's going a bit easier now that I'm more used to the equipment we two as one have put together. In particular, it's important to always work from the top of the hill down and not to fill it up near the bottom of the Grove! After that I scythed some more around the trees and native plants and did some tying of trees to the stakes. The wind was very strong up there today; with all the new growth to push against, the trees were much in need of those ties! Then it was back to scything a bit more. After that I rested by your Medlar tree then returned to our studio to work a bit on our a land of Tibet. Two as one we've gotten a lot done; it's time to work on the monthly pages! 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 19 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of his travels through China.) " Although my interest in China's material development was not shared by many of my officials, I was much impressed with what the Communists had managed to achieve in the field of heavy industry. I was eager for my own country to make similar progress. I was particularly taken with a hydro-electric power station that we were taken to see in Manchuria. It did not take much imagination to see that there were endless possibilities for this type of power generation in Tibet. But what made this particular trip so memorable was the expression on the face of the official who was showing me over the project when I asked him some pertinent questions about electrical power. Thanks to my work on that old diesel generator in Lhasa, I had quite a good grasp of the basic principles involved. I suppose it must have seemed incongruous for a young foreigner in a monk's robe to be asking about kilowatt hours and turbine size. The highlight of this excursion came when I was taken on board an old warship, also in Manchuria. I was fascinated. No matter that it was so ancient and that I could not make head or tail of any of the instruments or dials. Just to be on board this giant, grey, metal structure with its peculiar smell of oil and sea water was enough for me. On the negative side, I came to realise that the Chinese authorities had no intention of allowing me contact with ordinary Chinese people. Every time I wanted to break away from the programme or even just get out to see places for myself, I was prevented from doing so by the officials sent to look after me, always on the pretext of 'security, security': my safety was their perpetual excuse. Yet it was not only I who was kept isolated from the common people; so were all the Chinese from Peking. They too were forbidden to do anything independently. However, Serkon Rinpoche, one of my tsenshap, always managed to get out and about. He never listened to anything the Chinese said to him and simply did what he thought was proper. And, perhaps because he was lame and quite inconspicuous, no one thought to try to stop him. He was thus the only one who managed to get an intimate picture of what life was like in the brave new People's Republic. I learned a great deal from him. He painted a very sombre picture of great poverty and fear amongst the population. I did, however, have one very interesting conversation with a hotel porter whilst visiting an industrial zone. He told me that he had seen photographs of my departure from Lhasa and was pleased to know that my people had been so happy about my visit to China. When I told him that this was far from being the case, he was surprised. 'But it said so in the newspaper, ' he said, to which I replied that the situation must have been misrepresented as the truth was that the majority of my people had been utterly distraught. At this , my friend expressed shock and amazement. I,for my part, realised for the first time to what extent things were distorted in the Communist press: it seemed as if telling lies was in the blood of the authorities. Whilst on this journey around China, I went over the border into Mongolia, where I traveled with Serkon Rinpoche to his birthplace. It was a very moving experience, which made me realise how closely related is that country to my own. We arrived back in Peking in late January 1955, just in time to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year. As a mark of it's importance I decided to host a banquet, to which I would invite Chairman Mao and the other members of the 'Big Four', that is, Chou En-lai, Chu Te and Lu Rau-chi. They all accepted. During the course of the evening Mao was very friendly. At one point he leaned over and asked me what I was doing as I threw a pinch of tsampa up into the air. I explained that this was a symbolic offering, whereupon he took some between his own fingers and did the same. Then he took another lot and, with a mischievous look on his face, threw it on the floor. This slightly sarcastic gesture was the only thing that spoiled an otherwise memorable evening,which seemed to hold out a promise of genuine fraternity between our two countries. Certainly , that was how the Chinese portrayed the event. To this end they had organised the usual battery of photographers, who were to record the scene for posterity. Some of the photographs were published in the newspaper a day or two later with glowing reports, emphasizing speeches that were made. These pictures must also have been syndicated to Tibet because, when I was back in Lhasa, I saw one of them was reproduced in a Chinese run-local newspaper. It depicted Chairman Mao and myself sitting together with my head turned towards him and my hands making some inexplicable gesture. The Tibetan picture editor of the newspaper had made up his own mind about what was going on and ran a caption to the effect that this was a photograph of His Holiness the Dalai Lama explaining to the Great Helmsman how to make Khabse (Losar cookies)! " ( The Dalai Lama would have been a lot less enthusiastic if he had known the Chinese were to put a hydroelectric project on 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. Through my eyes ( Please see my spinning for you!) ( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day spinning for you then headed up to the Grove to spray. It's going a bit easier now that I'm more used to the equipment we two as one have put together. In particular, it's important to always work from the top of the hill down and not to fill it up near the bottom of the Grove! After that I scythed some more around the trees and native plants and did some tying of trees to the stakes. The wind was very strong up there today; with all the new growth to push against, the trees were much in need of those ties! Then it was back to scything a bit more. After that I rested by your Medlar tree then returned to our studio to work a bit on our a land of Tibet. Two as one we've gotten a lot done; it's time to work on the monthly pages! 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!)