Some Notes About Tibetan Struggles

Yesterday was the day of the 'audience' with His Holiness. I have never heard the word 'audience' used in this way, so I always put it in quotes because I think it is kinda silly. Anyway, we did a lot of freakin' waiting on yesterday. Hours of standing and sitting around. During this waiting time I learned/heard some interesting things. I took notes and interviewed a few monks. My notes are scattered and sloppy. I wrote them with my new OVO pen i bought for $10 at the Drake concert. (Quick shout out to my brothers OVOXO.) Listen closely, kids. This is serious.

First topic of discussion was the security. Top notch security on the sacred grounds of His Holiness. We were standing outside of the main gates for at least an hour. I made a comment to a monk (I don't really like to use names... It's uncomfortable) about the security. He explained that His Holiness has received death threats recently. I totally could understand this... But I was shocked when he told me that he heard Indian security Had recently captured a female Chinese "trained killer" who came to poison His Holiness. That is serious. I have mentioned before that China considers the Dalai Lama it's biggest threat... However, the monk explained how Indian spy organizations are "highly skilled". I asked why the heck India puts so much effort into supporting Tibet when China is so furious with them. He told me the relationship was a kind of 'carrot and stick' situation. He said India allows certain protections, but emphasizes the restrictions of Tibetans in many cases. You know what I mean? Ok. So yeah, he went on to tell me about the Indian spies... He told me not to "underestimate beggars"... I made a confused dog face, so he explained. He said he is sure that India hires spies to act as mentally handicapped beggars in order to have eyes on the streets that people ignore. This blew my mind. There were several handicapped beggars around the palace and town that I had noticed. The monk said that even at his monastery there are beggars he says are 'hired' to watch out for 2 years... But disappear leaving no traces. :-O that's a 007 movie.

Later I talked to two other monks. They told me how hard/impossible it is to get out of Tibet and go straight to India (because China doesn't want to allow the Tibetans out). They told me that even if one does escape directly to India, Indian officials are extremely suspicious of the refugees; they suspect that they are Chinese spies if they actually are allowed by China to leave. Get it? So, instead of risking everything by escaping straight to India, most Tibetans try to get a visa to Nepal first. Nepal boarders both India and China. Once a person reaches Nepal, India allows the refugees free entrance in. No visa or nothing required. I would think that would piss China off. *shrugs*. Anyway. One of these two monks explained that he hasn't seen a single family member in 19 years... But that his mother is trying to get a visa to Nepal. It was a heartbreaking tale... But he stood there smiling, I could see the hope in his eyes. He held an entire bag of trinkets and prayer chords to have His Holiness bless so that he could send some to each family member. He held up a cloth tassel that he planned to send to his brother so he could hang it in his car.
The other monk talking with us told me he hadn't seen his family in 20 years. Once a Tibetan escapes Tibet, China doesn't let him/her return. For this reason both monks resort solely to phone calls to and from family members. However, This monk told me that it is widely accepted that one must be extremely cautious while on the phone with people in Tibet for fear of Chinese wire tapping. He told me that one time he said "don't you wanna come to India?" while on the phone with his mother... Causing his mom to freak out and become very uncomfortable. He now says that he restricts his phone calls for fear of the Chinese punishing his mother and family.

Y'all, this is real. I'm not saying that everything I have written is the absolute truth. But I am saying that the same stories have been repeated by many, many Tibetans. These people feel threatened by China everyday. They feel like refugees. Most Tibetans here were not alive during the actual takeover of Tibet and were born in India... but the spirits and hopes of these youngsters for a free Tibet is no less than those who crossed the Himalayas 50 years ago. I mean, that's what I have observed. I'm just a kid. Don't trust me.

The last thing I wanted to touch on is a story an Emory monk told me. He and 5 other monks are students (through this program I'm working with) at Emory. They have been going there for one year I think. So for the past while these monks have been meeting with Chinese study abroad students twice a month in order to have a dialogue about the conflict. About a million questions gargled and rumbled in my gut when he told me this. We all know that China has some serious media control regulations. Everything written in China must be OK with the government. Activism is not allowed (please note the blind, Chinese activist that just recently escaped to the US). And when there IS activism (such as the protests at Tianamen Square that lasted 7 weeks) civilians very often do NOT hear/know about it. So, the government of China is in control of what everyone hears. (You may know that Facebook is not accessible in China. I think some stockholders are hoping China will allow Facebook access to those billion people. Lol, as if.) Therefore, many Chinese citizens believe that Tibet has always been a rebellious part of China that holds violent people who want to overthrow everything and cause harm to everyone. So to get back to the meetings at Emory- the monks were completely flabbergasted to learn that these Chinese students were so clueless about their stories. The students just never had a way to know anything other than what China wanted them to know; it is obviously not the fault of anyone else but the government of China.
Around Sixteen years ago the current Dalai Lama named the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama (a high ranking teacher in Buddhist faith responsible for finding the reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama). This child was stolen by the Chinese government. As in, China has admitted to the kidnapping of the child and his family. They call it "protective care". So anyway. This kid was stolen. And this kid has a huge responsibility...!! So the Chinese government has named a new Panchen Lama, which doesn't make any sense because the Lama was already named... And the Chinese government has no way of knowing who the crap the reincarnation of the Lama is. ANYWAY- 'missing' signs for the boy were displayed all over the palace. The Emory monks told me that the Chinese students recognized the new Panchen Lama as the real one. That is a problem. Wtf.


This was a rant, I now realize. I hope you can take something away from this post, though. If you feel that anything i have said is wrong, please tell me. Im not here to badmouth China. Lol and i certainly have nothing to gain politically from writing this... I just really wanna know what's going on. Also, don't tell China I told you.

PS; shout out to my bestie Kalia's momma! Hi!!