November 5

Through My Eyes

Saturday November 5

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he continues explaining the Five-Point Peace Plan!)

" My fourth proposal calls for serious efforts to be made to restore the natural environment of Tibet. Tibet shuld not be used for the production of nuclear wapons and the dumping of nuclear waste. Tibetans have a great respect for all forms of life. This inherent feeling is enhanced by our Buddhist faith which prohibits the harming of all sentient beings, whether human or animal. Prior to the Chinese invasion, Tibet was a fresh, beautiful, unspoiled wilderness sanctuary in a unique natural environment.

Sadly, during the past few decades, the wildlife of Tibet has been almost totally destroyed and, in many places, irreparable damage has been done to its forests. The overall effect on Tibet's delicate environment has been devastating- particularly since the country's altitude and aridity mean that the process of restoring vegetation will take much longer than in lower, wetter regions. For this reason, what little is left must be protected and efforts made to reverse the effects of China's iniquitous and wanton destruction of the Tibetan environment.

In doing so, the first priority will be to halt the production of nuclear weaponry and, even more importantly, to prevent the dumping of nuclear waste. Apparently, China plans not only to dispose of its own but also to import other countries' waste, in exchange for hard currency. The danger this represents is obvious. Not only living generations, but future generations are threatened. Furthermore, the inevitable problems this would cause locally could so easily turn into a catastrophe of global proportions. Giving waste to China, which might have access to large areas of lightly populated land but has only crude technology, will likely prove only a short-term solution to the problem.

In my call for negotiations on the future status of Tibet, I expressed my wish to approach the subject in a spirit of frankness and conciliation, with a view to finding a solution that is in the long-term interest of everyone-the Tibetans, the Chinese and ultimately all people on earth-my motivation in all this being the possibility of contributing to world peace through regional peace. I said nothing merely to criticise the Chinese. On the contrary, I want to help the Chinese in any way that I can. I hoped that my suggestions would be useful to them. Unfortunately, they chose only to see them as a call for separatism ( although, with regard to the future of Tibet, I nowhere spoke to the question of sovereignty) and Peking moved swiftly to denounce my speech in strong terms.

This did not much surprise me. Nor was I greatly surprised at the reaction of the people of Tibet- though I did not expect it. A few days after I had spoken in Washington, there came reports of huge demonstrations in Lhasa.

I later discovered that the demonstrations of September and October 1987 followed directly Peking's denunication of my Five-Point Peace Plan. Lhasans in their thousands turned out to call for a restoration of Tibetan independence. Predictably, the Chinese authorities reacted with violence and cruelty. Armed police moved in to break up the demonstrations, opening fire indiscriminately and killing at least nineteen people. Many more were wounded.

At first the Chinese denied that any shots had been fired. Six months later they admitted that some members of the security forces had fired warning shots into the air above the heads of the crowd. But, they suggested , some of these rounds must have struck the crowd, instead of falling harmlessly. ( When I heard this, I wondered whether perhaps they were referring to some new secret weapon: a Tibetan blood-seeking bullet.)

News of the demonstations and the merciless and bloody crackdown flashed around the world, and, for the first time since 1959, Tibet was headline news. However, it was not until some time afterwards that I heard the full details of what had happened. And for this I was indebted to the handful of western tourists who happened to be in the capital at the time.

Forty of them subsequently formed a group and submitted a report on the atrocities they had seen. From this I learned that the pattern of both demonstrations was the same. Initially, a handful of monks had gathered in front of the Johkhang, shouting, 'Bo rangzen':'Independence for Tibet'. They were quickly joined by the hundreds, then thousands, of lay people who echoed these calls for freedom. Suddenly, a battalion of security men appeared. Without warning, about sixty monks and lay people were arrested and hustled inot the police station, which today lies immediately opposite the Johkhang. Before being taken inside they were viciously beaten. Meanwhile, people pleaded with officials for the release of the demonstrators. "

( Camera footage of the actual events was taken and is in the movie Cry of the Snow Lion; it is moving to point of tears. 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? Not harming all sentient beings whether human or animal is very much our way as you know well beautiful one! I began the day spinning for you then headed up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to continue bringing food to the trees and native plants. With we two as one pulling strongly and patiently together it went quite well; we've completed this! After that it was time to continue preparing the water system for winter. I took the filter portion and covered it with screen as usual then began draining the water lines. We'll complete this tomorrow or sometime this week most likely.Then it's on to planting for Groundhog, clearing around the trunks and trunk painting! I'm going to concentrate more on outside work now on the weekends because it's getting dark a lot earlier with the time change! After that I rested by your Medlar tree as usual before returning to our studio to work on our a land of Tibet then watched our Tibetan movies for awhile. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up a bit early 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 November 5 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he continues explaining the Five-Point Peace Plan!) " My fourth proposal calls for serious efforts to be made to restore the natural environment of Tibet. Tibet shuld not be used for the production of nuclear wapons and the dumping of nuclear waste. Tibetans have a great respect for all forms of life. This inherent feeling is enhanced by our Buddhist faith which prohibits the harming of all sentient beings, whether human or animal. Prior to the Chinese invasion, Tibet was a fresh, beautiful, unspoiled wilderness sanctuary in a unique natural environment. Sadly, during the past few decades, the wildlife of Tibet has been almost totally destroyed and, in many places, irreparable damage has been done to its forests. The overall effect on Tibet's delicate environment has been devastating- particularly since the country's altitude and aridity mean that the process of restoring vegetation will take much longer than in lower, wetter regions. For this reason, what little is left must be protected and efforts made to reverse the effects of China's iniquitous and wanton destruction of the Tibetan environment. In doing so, the first priority will be to halt the production of nuclear weaponry and, even more importantly, to prevent the dumping of nuclear waste. Apparently, China plans not only to dispose of its own but also to import other countries' waste, in exchange for hard currency. The danger this represents is obvious. Not only living generations, but future generations are threatened. Furthermore, the inevitable problems this would cause locally could so easily turn into a catastrophe of global proportions. Giving waste to China, which might have access to large areas of lightly populated land but has only crude technology, will likely prove only a short-term solution to the problem. In my call for negotiations on the future status of Tibet, I expressed my wish to approach the subject in a spirit of frankness and conciliation, with a view to finding a solution that is in the long-term interest of everyone-the Tibetans, the Chinese and ultimately all people on earth-my motivation in all this being the possibility of contributing to world peace through regional peace. I said nothing merely to criticise the Chinese. On the contrary, I want to help the Chinese in any way that I can. I hoped that my suggestions would be useful to them. Unfortunately, they chose only to see them as a call for separatism ( although, with regard to the future of Tibet, I nowhere spoke to the question of sovereignty) and Peking moved swiftly to denounce my speech in strong terms. This did not much surprise me. Nor was I greatly surprised at the reaction of the people of Tibet- though I did not expect it. A few days after I had spoken in Washington, there came reports of huge demonstrations in Lhasa. I later discovered that the demonstrations of September and October 1987 followed directly Peking's denunication of my Five-Point Peace Plan. Lhasans in their thousands turned out to call for a restoration of Tibetan independence. Predictably, the Chinese authorities reacted with violence and cruelty. Armed police moved in to break up the demonstrations, opening fire indiscriminately and killing at least nineteen people. Many more were wounded. At first the Chinese denied that any shots had been fired. Six months later they admitted that some members of the security forces had fired warning shots into the air above the heads of the crowd. But, they suggested , some of these rounds must have struck the crowd, instead of falling harmlessly. ( When I heard this, I wondered whether perhaps they were referring to some new secret weapon: a Tibetan blood-seeking bullet.) News of the demonstations and the merciless and bloody crackdown flashed around the world, and, for the first time since 1959, Tibet was headline news. However, it was not until some time afterwards that I heard the full details of what had happened. And for this I was indebted to the handful of western tourists who happened to be in the capital at the time. Forty of them subsequently formed a group and submitted a report on the atrocities they had seen. From this I learned that the pattern of both demonstrations was the same. Initially, a handful of monks had gathered in front of the Johkhang, shouting, 'Bo rangzen':'Independence for Tibet'. They were quickly joined by the hundreds, then thousands, of lay people who echoed these calls for freedom. Suddenly, a battalion of security men appeared. Without warning, about sixty monks and lay people were arrested and hustled inot the police station, which today lies immediately opposite the Johkhang. Before being taken inside they were viciously beaten. Meanwhile, people pleaded with officials for the release of the demonstrators. " ( Camera footage of the actual events was taken and is in the movie Cry of the Snow Lion; it is moving to point of tears. 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? Not harming all sentient beings whether human or animal is very much our way as you know well beautiful one! I began the day spinning for you then headed up gang rinpoche ngah tso gi to continue bringing food to the trees and native plants. With we two as one pulling strongly and patiently together it went quite well; we've completed this! After that it was time to continue preparing the water system for winter. I took the filter portion and covered it with screen as usual then began draining the water lines. We'll complete this tomorrow or sometime this week most likely.Then it's on to planting for Groundhog, clearing around the trunks and trunk painting! I'm going to concentrate more on outside work now on the weekends because it's getting dark a lot earlier with the time change! After that I rested by your Medlar tree as usual before returning to our studio to work on our a land of Tibet then watched our Tibetan movies for awhile. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up a bit early 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!)