Press Release

12 October 2011

THE TASK FORCE MEETING HELD IN DHARAMSALA

The recent changes in the political leadership of the Tibetan people have been historic. But the central task of the Tibetan movement to restore basic freedoms and dignity of the Tibetan people remains unchanged. As a result I have consistently stated that one of my foremost priorities as the Kalon Tripa is to make every possible effort to find a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the issue of Tibet. Even during my election campaign I made clear my commitment to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Middle-Way Approach and to the ongoing dialogue process re-started in 2002.

In line with this spirit I met on 9 October 2011 the two envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mr. Lodi G. Gyari and Mr. Kelsang Gyaltsen, who have to date conducted talks with the representatives of the Chinese leadership. They gave me a comprehensive briefing on the status of the dialogue process. The Task Force meeting was held the following day during which the status and prospects of the dialogue was discussed in depth.

Obviously the ongoing tragic situation inside Tibet was also a major topic of discussion.

In recent times I have stated on a number of occasions our deep concern over the situation in Tibet. The incidents are a clear indication of the genuine grievances of the Tibetans and their sense of deep resentment and despair over the prevailing conditions in Tibet. It is therefore of the
utmost urgency that every possible effort be made to address the underlying root causes of Tibetan grievances and resentment. Consequently,
I wish to reiterate my firm commitment in finding a mutually acceptable solution in the spirit of the Middle-Way Approach. I have therefore asked
the two envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to make efforts to resume the dialogue at the earliest convenience.

Dr. Lobsang Sangay

KALON TRIPA

For Immediate Release

China: End Crackdown on Tibetan Monasteries
Heavy-Handed Security Exacerbates Grievances, Desperation

(New York, October 12, 2011) – The Chinese government should immediately end excessive restrictions on Kirti monastery in the Aba (“Ngawa” in Tibetan) prefecture of Sichuan province, and lift similarly heavy-handed security measures imposed on other lay communities and monasteries in the region, Human Rights Watch said today. These measures appear to have fueled tensions between Tibetans and Chinese authorities in the region, contributing to desperate acts of protest by individuals, including self-immolations, the latest two on October 7, 2011.

Since the protests of 2008 in the region, the Chinese government has imposed drastic restrictions on Tibetan monasteries in the Aba prefecture of Sichuan province and other parts of the Tibetan plateau. These measures include brutal security raids, arbitrary detentions of monks, increased surveillance within monasteries, and a permanent police presence inside monasteries to monitor religious activities.

“Security measures designed to curtail the right to free expression, association, and religious belief in Tibetan monasteries are not legitimate,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “Even worse, those measures are exacerbating the tensions. Instead, the government should address the region’s underlying grievances.”

Human Rights Watch has documented a dramatic increase in security expenditure by the Chinese government in the Aba region since 2002, although there were no reported incidents of significant unrest until 2008. These findings suggest that the increase in government spending on security has contributed to provocative policing techniques such as monastery blockades and the mass detentions of monks that have repeatedly contributed to local discontent and unrest.

The increased security measures appear to have been a major factor in the escalation of tensions that have led to several protests in which monks tried to set themselves on fire to bring attention to the situation in Aba. In the October 7 incident, Choepel and Khaying, two young Tibetans who had been monks at Kirti monastery (“Ge Erde” in Chinese), set fire to themselves.

The monastery has been the site of six self-immolations this year, as well as larger nonviolent protests by monks and lay people, many of whom were subsequently detained. The six victims were:

• Phuntsok Jarutsang, 20, who set himself on fire on March 16 to commemorate the March 2008 uprisings in the region. Security personnel tried to extinguish the flames but also allegedly beat Phuntsok, who died the next day, leading to protests in the following days and weeks by more than 1,000 lay Tibetans and monks.
• Lobsang Kalsang, 18. Phuntsok’s younger brother, who set himself aflame on September 26. He was hospitalized, but no information has been made available about his physical well-being or whereabouts.
• Lobsang Konchok, approximately 18, who also set himself on fire on September 26. No information is available about his condition or whereabouts.
• Kelsang Wangchuk, 17, a novice monk, who attempted to set himself on fire on October 3 and reportedly suffered limited burns to his legs, and allegedly sustained a serious head injury during detention. Security forces doused the flames.
• Khaying, 20, also known as Lhunyang, and Choephel, both former Kirti monks, participated in self-immolation protests on October 7, shouting slogans as they set themselves on fire. Khaying was taken to a local hospital, where he died the next day.
• Choephel, 18, suffered minor injuries after police and others extinguished the flames, Chinese news sources said. But other sources from the region suggested immediately afterward that he was in critical condition. He died on October 11.

No credible evidence has emerged so far to suggest that the monastery authorities or its other members were involved in the actions of these individual and former monks. Yet the security response to each of these incidents has been to punish Kirti monastery and the local community through collective punishment, police raids, roadblocks, and show of force by the People’s Armed Police (PAP).

In March, following the first immolation incident, armed personnel surrounded the monastery and cut off its access to food and water for several days. New security officials dispatched to the monastery on March 21 imposed a new compulsory “patriotic education” campaign. On April 12, more than 300 monks were taken away from Kirti monastery in ten military trucks and detained in unspecified locations to undergo several weeks of political indoctrination under the guises of “legal education.” The whereabouts of those who did not subsequently return are still unclear, though over 100 are believed to have been ordered to return home and barred from returning to the monastery.

Approximately 2,000 fewer monks are living in the monastery now, compared with the number of residents living there in March. The government maintains stringent controls on the movements of the monks, including the requirement that any monk leaving monastery grounds obtain letters from three separate guarantors. Civilian and military police continue to patrol the area, including a special unit which government authorities say will “strike hard” against “violent terrorist activities.”

In an apparent move to deter other acts of protest by self-immolation, in September, the government sentenced three Kirti monks accused of having aided Phuntsok in setting himself on fire and sheltered him afterward to prison. The heavy sentences – 10, 11, and 13 years – were widely perceived as unjustified. Two weeks later, several other monks from Kirti were sentenced to 2-and-a-half or 3 years of re-education through labor (RTL), also on suspicion of involvement in the March 16 protest by Phuntsok.

Chinese authorities have said that the protests this year threaten stability, and that Phuntsok’s protest in March was a plot to incite unrest and separatist activities. Shi Jun, the Aba Prefecture Party Committee secretary, said that Phuntsok’s immolation was “a premeditated plot” with “an obvious vicious intent and evil motive.” Official news outlets have tried to play down the incidents this fall, claiming that they are being used by the Tibetans’ spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for political gains. None of the official commentary on the immolations has acknowledged the Tibetans’ grievances.

The self-immolations coincide with a significant increase in spending on security in the area, according to government statistics examined by Human Rights Watch. Those show a dramatic increase in public security spending in Tibetan areas of Sichuan province, specifically Aba and Ganzi prefectures, since at least 2002, with a more rapid increase after 2006. In 2007, a new “anti-terrorist” unit was established in Aba to “strike hard” against “violent terrorist activities.” By 2009, per capita annual spending on public security, which covers the civilian police force, the People’s Armed Police, and costs associated with running the local courts and prisons, in Aba was five times the average spent per person on public security in non-Tibetan prefectures in Sichuan, and over twice the amount spent for security in the provincial capital, Chengdu.

Incidents similar to the ones in Kirti have taken place in at least one other monastery. In August, Nyitso monastery, in Ganzi prefecture (“Garze” in Tibetan), Dawu county (“Tawu” in Tibetan), was reportedly cut off by troops for several days after monks declined to take part in an annual prayer festival. A single monk set himself on fire, reportedly in protest against the blockade of the monastery.

Human Rights Watch urged the Chinese government to release information about the whereabouts and well-being of all the monks forcibly removed from Kirti, to ensure that its maintenance of public security does not encroach on internationally guaranteed rights, and to address Tibetans’ fundamental grievances.

Human Rights Watch also urged all governments concerned with human rights in China to articulate publicly their concerns about the deteriorating environment, and to press the Chinese government to address Tibetans’ rights.

“Recent developments in and around Kirti monastery show the terrible human cost of ongoing repression,” Richardson said. “Cleary the Chinese government can’t spend its way out of this problem – genuine stability is the result of protecting, not denying people their rights.”

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on China, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/asia/china

For more information, please contact:
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile); or richars@hrw.org
In Hong Kong, Nicholas Bequelin (English, French, Mandarin): +852-8198-1040 (mobile); or bequeln@hrw.org

PRESS RELEASE

OSCE Assembly Participants Concerned at South Africa’sDenail of Visa to the Dalai Lama

11 October, Amsterdam – More than 30 parliamentarians attending the fall session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) signed a letter to the Government of South Africa to express their diappointment over the denail a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The parliamentarians attending the meeting in Dubrovnik, Croatia called upon the South African government that its decision “compromise the upholding of the principles of democracy, justice, peace and the freedom of expression, association and movement.”

The parliamentarains who signed the letter were from Albania, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America and Ukraine.

On 6 October, the International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT) in a statement expressed  “deep concerns that post-Aparthied South Africa has now denied a visa for the second time to the 1989 Noble Peace Prize Laureate.”

Matteo Mecacci, Co-Chair

Thoas Mann, Co-Chair

Notes:

– 133 Members from 33 worldwide Parliaments who took part in the 5th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet (18/19 November 2009, Rome) adopted the “Rome Declaration on Tibet” which constituted the International Network for Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT): www.inpatnet.org

– The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE is the parliamentary dimension of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, whose 56 participating States span the geographical area from Vancouver to Vladivostok: http://www.oscepa.org/NEW/

– The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 320 parliamentarians from 55 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America.

Dalai Lama criticizes China in South African

By DONNA BRYSON – Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Dalai Lama on Saturday sharply criticized China, which is accused of blocking him from travelling to South Africa to celebrate Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday.

The Tibetan spiritual leader spoke with Tutu and answered questions via a video link, instead of attending an event honouring South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero a day after his birthday. Tutu asked the Dalai Lama why the global giant and South Africa’s main trade partner China feared his fellow Nobel peace laureate.

The Dalai Lama, sitting in a room decorated with orchids and silk hangings in his home in exile in India, was playful at first. He said communist propaganda portrayed him as a demon, as he raised his index fingers to his temples.

“Yes, I have horns,” he said, drawing laughter from Tutu and others watching him on a video screen at the University of the Western Cape, near Cape Town. The encounter was streamed live on the Internet, but not broadcast by South African state television as had been expected.

The Dalai Lama said for communist officials and those in other totalitarian systems, “telling lies has unfortunately become part of their lives.” He said he made Chinese officials “uncomfortable” because he tells the truth.

He added the Chinese people should be able to hear his views and judge for themselves.

“Censorship is immoral,” he said.

He also called for legal reforms in China.

“The Chinese judiciary system must raise up to international law standards,” he said.

The Dalai Lama earlier this week called off his South Africa visit after waiting weeks for a visa. South African officials deny they stalled because of pressure from China, which accuses the Dalai Lama of being a separatist. The Dalai Lama insists he is only seeking increased autonomy for Tibet.

Tutu, often described as South Africa’s conscience, had called the African National Congress-led government worse than the country’s former oppressive white regime for not issuing the visa. Tutu accused the government of failing to side with “Tibetans who are being oppressed viciously by the Chinese.”

South African foreign ministry officials said the visa process was delayed by problems with the timing and completeness of the application. Officials from the offices of Tutu and the Dalai Lama have denied the application was late or incomplete.

Tutu’s anger appeared to have abated Saturday. For more than an hour, two old friends brought together by technology giggled and teased one another as they exchanged views on politics and spirituality.

Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his non violent campaign against white racist rule in South Africa. The Nobel committee recognized the Dalai Lama in 1989 for his peaceful efforts to “preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people.”

The Dalai Lama said he missed seeing Tutu at international events. Tutu has travelled less since retiring from public life after his 79th birthday, but remains outspoken.

“I can see your face,” the Dalai Lama said to Tutu, gazing at a monitor. “I really feel very, very happy.”

The Dalai Lama said he was looking forward to Tutu’s 90th birthday.

“Don’t forget to send me an invitation,” he said. “Then we can test your government.”

Desmond Tutu attacks South African government over Dalai Lama ban

Furious archbishop warns ruling ANC to ‘watch out’ after Tibetan spiritual leader is denied visa to attend birthday party

David Smith in Cape Town

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 October 2011 18.54 BST

Article history

Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks out against the South African government at a press conference in Cape Town. Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, visibly shaking with anger, compared the South African government unfavourably with the apartheid regime and threatened to pray for the downfall of the African National Congress (ANC) yesterday after the Dalai Lama said he was forced to pull out of Tutu’s 80th birthday celebrations because he had not been granted an entry visa.

“Our government is worse than the apartheid government because at least you would expect it with the apartheid government,” Tutu told a press conference in Cape Town. “Our government we expect to be sensitive to the sentiments of our constitution.”

In a tirade that stunned South African journalists, he went on: “Let the ANC know they have a large majority. Well, Mubarak had a large majority, Gaddafi had a large majority. I am warning you: watch out. Watch out.

“Our government – representing me! – says it will not support Tibetans being viciously oppressed by China. You, president Zuma and your government, do not represent me. I am warning you, as I warned the [pro-apartheid] nationalists, one day we will pray for the defeat of the ANC government.”

Tutu had invited his fellow Nobel peace laureate to deliver a lecture to mark his milestone birthday in Cape Town on Friday. Officials from the archbishop emeritus’s office started the visa application processin June but met a series of bureaucratic delays.

On Tuesday the Dalai Lama’s office finally gave up on the application for the 76-year-old. “His holiness was to depart for South Africa on 6 October, but visas have not been granted yet,” a spokesperson for the office said. “We are, therefore, now convinced that, for whatever reason or reasons, the South African government finds it inconvenient to issue a visa to … the Dalai Lama.”

Tutu said he was still struggling to make sense of what had happened. “I have to say I can’t believe it, I really can’t believe it,” he exclaimed. “Wake me up and tell me this is actually happening here. It’s quite unbelievable. The discourtesy they have shown to the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama!

“The Dalai Lama, anywhere in the world, they have problems finding a venue that can contain the people who want him. He goes to New York and Central Park is overflowing. The discourtesy is mind blowing.”

Asked if he felt the Tibetan spiritual leader had in effect been banned from the country, Tutu replied: “To all intents and purposes, yes. This is the Dalai Lama. Incredible.

“Many, many people are appalled in many parts of the world, especially people who supported us during the struggle. They are weeping and saying, ‘South Africa? It can’t be.'”

Tutu’s daughter, Mpho, said the government’s actions had not matched “what we dreamed we would be, who we hoped we would become as a country and as a people”. Clearly overcome with emotion, she added: “It is with great sadness that we sit here.”

A candlelit vigil outside the South African parliament in Cape Town on Monday drew about 250 people demanding the Tibetan spiritual leader be allowed into the country. There was bitter disappointment on Tuesday morning when it was announced that the eight-day trip had been called off. Civil rights activists blamed the government.

Ela Gandhi, who planned to present the Dalai Lama with a peace prize in the name of her grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, said: “I’m very disappointed. We were looking forward to him coming and to presenting the award. I really feel the whole situation has been handled so badly. It’s discourteous for a person of his stature to be told to wait for so long. For a person of peace to be treated like this is wrong.”

She added: “Everybody thinks this is because of pressure from China. It’s very sad another country is allowed to dictate terms to our government. It’s going back to apartheid times. I am ashamed of my own country.”

South African foreign ministry officials have consistently denied accusations they have been bowing to pressure from Beijing. Asked for his reaction to the Dalai Lama’s decision, a spokesman, Clayson Monyela, said: “We don’t have a reaction. He’s cancelled his trip and that’s it. We have not said no. We’ve not refused him a visa; the visa was still being processed. It’s only on 20 September that he submitted his full paperwork. In some countries a visa can take two months. I don’t know why people are criticising the government.”

The Dalai Lama visited South Africa in 1996, meeting Nelson Mandela, but was prevented from attending a Nobel laureates’ conference in the country two years ago, when the government said his visit would distract from World Cup preparations. At the time, Tutu called the decision disgraceful, and accused the authorities of bowing to pressure from China.

South Africa’s official opposition has added its voice to the criticism of the stalled visa.

Stevens Mokgalapa, shadow deputy foreign minister for the Democratic Alliance, said: “The inescapable conclusion is that the South African government has predictably strung the Dalai Lama along to make it impossible for him to plan his trip. That way it could avoid making a decision that would either upset the Chinese or upset millions of peace-loving South Africans and citizens around the globe.

“But by delaying [the visa decision] the government made its choice: it allowed China to dictate foreign policy. This is a sad day for those of us who believe in a sovereign foreign policy based on ubuntu [a humanist philosophy] and human rights. It is not acceptable that the government has allowed a breach of this sovereignty by bowing to pressure from a foreign power.”

While the Dalai Lama is excluded, other leading international activists will join three days of birthday events. The U2 singer Bono is expected to speak at the launch of a biography, Tutu: The Authorised Portrait, in Cape Town on Thursday.

Bono has also reportedly been invited to join former the US president Jimmy Carter, the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, and the British businessman Richard Branson at a picnic at a vineyard on Friday. A public church commemoration will be held earlier that day.

Statement of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, on the Issue of His Reincarnation

24  September 2011

Introduction

My fellow Tibetans, both in and outside Tibet, all those who follow the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and everyone who has a connection to Tibet and Tibetans: due to the foresight of our ancient kings, ministers and scholar-adepts, the complete teaching of the Buddha, comprising the scriptural and experiential teachings of the Three Vehicles and the Four Sets of Tantra and their related subjects and disciplines flourished widely in the Land of Snow. Tibet has served as a source of Buddhist and related cultural traditions for the world. In particular, it has contributed significantly to the happiness of countless beings in Asia, including those in China, Tibet and Mongolia.

In the course of upholding the Buddhist tradition in Tibet, we evolved a unique Tibetan tradition of recognizing the reincarnations of scholar-adepts that has been of immense help to both the Dharma and sentient beings, particularly to the monastic community.

Since the omniscient Gedun Gyatso was recognized and confirmed as the reincarnation of Gedun Drub in the fifteenth century and the Gaden Phodrang Labrang (the Dalai Lama’s institution) was established, successive reincarnations have been recognized. The third in the line, Sonam Gyatso, was given the title of the Dalai Lama. The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, established the Gaden Phodrang Government in 1642, becoming the spiritual and political head of Tibet. For more than 600 years since Gedun Drub, a series of unmistaken reincarnations has been recognised in the lineage of the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lamas have functioned as both the political and spiritual leaders of Tibet for 369 years since 1642. I have now voluntarily brought this to an end, proud and satisfied that we can pursue the kind of democratic system of government flourishing elsewhere in the world. In fact, as far back as 1969, I made clear that concerned people should decide whether the Dalai Lama’s reincarnations should continue in the future. However, in the absence of clear guidelines, should the concerned public express a strong wish for the Dalai Lamas to continue, there is an obvious risk of vested political interests misusing the reincarnation system to fulfil their own political agenda. Therefore, while I remain physically and mentally fit, it seems important to me that we draw up clear guidelines to recognise the next Dalai Lama, so that there is no room for doubt or deception. For these guidelines to be fully comprehensible, it is essential to understand the system of Tulku recognition and the basic concepts behind it. Therefore, I shall briefly explain them below.

Past and future lives

In order to accept reincarnation or the reality of Tulkus, we need to accept the existence of past and future lives. Sentient beings come to this present life from their previous lives and take rebirth again after death. This kind of continuous rebirth is accepted by all the ancient Indian spiritual traditions and schools of philosophy, except the Charvakas, who were a materialist movement. Some modern thinkers deny past and future lives on the premise that we cannot see them. Others do not draw such clear cut conclusions on this basis.

Although many religious traditions accept rebirth, they differ in their views of what it is that is reborn, how it is reborn, and how it passes through the transitional period between two lives. Some religious traditions accept the prospect of future life, but reject the idea of past lives.

Generally, Buddhists believe that there is no beginning to birth and that once we achieve liberation from the cycle of existence by overcoming our karma and destructive emotions, we will not be reborn under the sway of these conditions. Therefore, Buddhists believe that there is an end to being reborn as a result of karma and destructive emotions, but most Buddhist philosophical schools do not accept that the mind-stream comes to an end. To reject past and future rebirth would contradict the Buddhist concept of the ground, path and result, which must be explained on the basis of the disciplined or undisciplined mind. If we accept this argument, logically, we would also have to accept that the world and its inhabitants come about without causes and conditions. Therefore, as long as you are a Buddhist, it is necessary to accept past and future rebirth.

For those who remember their past lives, rebirth is a clear experience. However, most ordinary beings forget their past lives as they go through the process of death, intermediate state and rebirth. As past and future rebirths are slightly obscure to them, we need to use evidence-based logic to prove past and future rebirths to them.

There are many different logical arguments given in the words of the Buddha and subsequent commentaries to prove the existence of past and future lives. In brief, they come down to four points: the logic that things are preceded by things of a similar type, the logic that things are preceded by a substantial cause, the logic that the mind has gained familiarity with things in the past, and the logic of having gained experience of things in the past.

Ultimately all these arguments are based on the idea that the nature of the mind, its clarity and awareness, must have clarity and awareness as its substantial cause. It cannot have any other entity such as an inanimate object as its substantial cause. This is self-evident. Through logical analysis we infer that a new stream of clarity and awareness cannot come about without causes or from unrelated causes. While we observe that mind cannot be produced in a laboratory, we also infer that nothing can eliminate the continuity of subtle clarity and awareness.

As far as I know, no modern psychologist, physicist, or neuroscientist has been able to observe or predict the production of mind either from matter or without cause.

There are people who can remember their immediate past life or even many past lives, as well as being able to recognise places and relatives from those lives. This is not just something that happened in the past. Even today there are many people in the East and West, who can recall incidents and experiences from their past lives. Denying this is not an honest and impartial way of doing research, because it runs counter to this evidence. The Tibetan system of recognising reincarnations is an authentic mode of investigation based on people’s recollection of their past lives.

How rebirth takes place

There are two ways in which someone can take rebirth after death: rebirth under the sway of karma and destructive emotions and rebirth through the power of compassion and prayer. Regarding the first, due to ignorance negative and positive karma are created and their imprints remain on the consciousness. These are reactivated through craving and grasping, propelling us into the next life. We then take rebirth involuntarily in higher or lower realms. This is the way ordinary beings circle incessantly through existence like the turning of a wheel. Even under such circumstances ordinary beings can engage diligently with a positive aspiration in virtuous practices in their day-to-day lives. They familiarise themselves with virtue that at the time of death can be reactivated providing the means for them to take rebirth in a higher realm of existence. On the other hand, superior Bodhisattvas, who have attained the path of seeing, are not reborn through the force of their karma and destructive emotions, but due to the power of their compassion for sentient beings and based on their prayers to benefit others. They are able to choose their place and time of birth as well as their future parents. Such a rebirth, which is solely for the benefit of others, is rebirth through the force of compassion and prayer.

The meaning of Tulku

It seems the Tibetan custom of applying the epithet ‘Tulku’ (Buddha’s Emanation Body) to recognized reincarnations began when devotees used it as an honorary title, but it has since become a common expression. In general, the term Tulku refers to a particular aspect of the Buddha, one of the three or four described in the Sutra Vehicle. According to this explanation of these aspects of the Buddha, a person who is totally bound by destructive emotions and karma has the potential to achieve the Truth Body (Dharmakaya), comprising the Wisdom Truth Body and Nature Truth Body. The former refers to the enlightened mind of a Buddha, which sees everything directly and precisely, as it is, in an instant. It has been cleared of all destructive emotions, as well as their imprints, through the accumulation of merit and wisdom over a long period of time. The latter, the Nature Truth Body, refers to the empty nature of that all-knowing enlightened mind. These two together are aspects of the Buddhas for themselves. However, as they are not directly accessible to others, but only amongst the Buddhas themselves, it is imperative that the Buddhas manifest in physical forms that are accessible to sentient beings in order to help them. Hence, the ultimate physical aspect of a Buddha is the Body of Complete Enjoyment (Sambhogakaya), which is accessible to superior Bodhisattvas, and has five definite qualifications such as residing in the Akanishta Heaven. And from the Body of Complete Enjoyment are manifested the myriad Emanation Bodies or Tulkus (Nirmanakaya), of the Buddhas, which appear as gods or humans and are accessible even to ordinary beings. These two physical aspects of the Buddha are termed Form Bodies, which are meant for others.

The Emanation Body is three-fold: a) the Supreme Emanation Body like Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, who manifested the twelve deeds of a Buddha such as being born in the place he chose and so forth; b) the Artistic Emanation Body which serves others by appearing as craftsmen, artists and so on; and c) the Incarnate Emanation Body, according to which Buddhas appear in various forms such as human beings, deities, rivers, bridges, medicinal plants, and trees to help sentient beings. Of these three types of Emanation Body, the reincarnations of spiritual masters recognized and known as ‘Tulkus’ in Tibet come under the third category. Among these Tulkus there may be many who are truly qualified Incarnate Emanation Bodies of the Buddhas, but this does not necessarily apply to all of them. Amongst the Tulkus of Tibet there may be those who are reincarnations of superior Bodhisattvas, Bodhisattvas on the paths of accumulation and preparation, as well as masters who are evidently yet to enter these Bodhisattva paths. Therefore, the title of Tulku is given to reincarnate Lamas either on the grounds of their resembling enlightened beings or through their connection to certain qualities of enlightened beings.

As Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo said:

Reincarnation is what happens when someone takes rebirth after the predecessor’s passing away; emanation is when manifestations take place without the source’s passing away.

Recognition of Reincarnations

The practice of recognizing who is who by identifying someone’s previous life occurred even when Shakyamuni Buddha himself was alive. Many accounts are found in the four Agama Sections of the Vinaya Pitaka, the Jataka Stories, the Sutra of the Wise and Foolish, the Sutra of One Hundred Karmas and so on, in which the Tathagata revealed the workings of karma, recounting innumerable stories about how the effects of certain karmas created in a past life are experienced by a person in his or her present life. Also, in the life stories of Indian masters, who lived after the Buddha, many reveal their previous places of birth. There are many such stories, but the system of recognizing and numbering their reincarnations did not occur in India.

The system of recognizing reincarnations in Tibet

Past and future lives were asserted in the indigenous Tibetan Bon tradition before the arrival of Buddhism. And since the spread of Buddhism in Tibet, virtually all Tibetans have believed in past and future lives. Investigating the reincarnations of many spiritual masters who upheld the Dharma, as well as the custom of praying devotedly to them, flourished everywhere in Tibet. Many authentic scriptures, indigenous Tibetan books such as the Mani Kabum and the Fivefold Kathang Teachings and others like the The Books of Kadam Disciples and the Jewel Garland: Responses to Queries, which were recounted by the glorious, incomparable Indian master Dipankara Atisha in the 11th century in Tibet, tell stories of the reincarnations of Arya Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion. However, the present tradition of formally recognizing the reincarnations of masters first began in the early 13th century with the recognition of Karmapa Pagshi as the reincarnation of Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa by his disciples in accordance with his prediction. Since then, there have been seventeen Karmapa incarnations over more than nine hundred years. Similarly, since the recognition of Kunga Sangmo as the reincarnation of Khandro Choekyi Dronme in the 15th century there have been more than ten incarnations of Samding Dorje Phagmo. So, among the Tulkus recognized in Tibet there are monastics and lay tantric practitioners, male and female. This system of recognizing the reincarnations gradually spread to other Tibetan Buddhist traditions, and Bon, in Tibet. Today, there are recognized Tulkus in all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Sakya, Geluk, Kagyu and Nyingma, as well as Jonang and Bodong, who serve the Dharma. It is also evident that amongst these Tulkus some are a disgrace.

The omniscient Gedun Drub, who was a direct disciple of Je Tsongkhapa, founded Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Tsang and took care of his students. He passed away in 1474 at the age of 84. Although initially no efforts were made to identify his reincarnation, people were obliged to recognize a child named Sangye Chophel, who had been born in Tanak, Tsang (1476), because of what he had to say about his amazing and flawless recollections of his past life. Since then, a tradition began of searching for and recognizing the successive reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas by the Gaden Phodrang Labrang and later the Gaden Phodrang Government.

The ways of recognizing reincarnations

After the system of recognizing Tulkus came into being, various procedures for going about it began to develop and grow. Among these some of the most important involve the predecessor’s predictive letter and other instructions and indications that might occur; the reincarnation’s reliably recounting his previous life and speaking about it; identifying possessions belonging to the predecessor and recognizing people who had been close to him. Apart from these, additional methods include asking reliable spiritual masters for their divination as well as seeking the predictions of mundane oracles, who appear through mediums in trance, and observing the visions that manifest in sacred lakes of protectors like Lhamoi Latso, a sacred lake south of Lhasa.

When there happens to be more than one prospective candidate for recognition as a Tulku, and it becomes difficult to decide, there is a practice of making the final decision by divination employing the dough-ball method (zen tak) before a sacred image while calling upon the power of truth.

Emanation before the passing away of the predecessor (ma-dhey tulku)

Usually a reincarnation has to be someone’s taking rebirth as a human being after previously passing away. Ordinary sentient beings generally cannot manifest an emanation before death (ma-dhey tulku), but superior Bodhisattvas, who can manifest themselves in hundreds or thousands of bodies simultaneously, can manifest an emanation before death. Within the Tibetan system of recognizing Tulkus there are emanations who belong to the same mind-stream as the predecessor, emanations who are connected to others through the power of karma and prayers, and emanations who come as a result of blessings and appointment.

The main purpose of the appearance of a reincarnation is to continue the predecessor’s unfinished work to serve Dharma and beings. In the case of a Lama who is an ordinary being, instead of having a reincarnation belonging to the same mind-stream, someone else with connections to that Lama through pure karma and prayers may be recognized as his or her emanation. Alternatively it is possible for the Lama to appoint a successor who is either his disciple or someone young who is to be recognized as his emanation. Since these options are possible in the case of an ordinary being, an emanation before death that is not of the same mind-stream is feasible. In some cases one high Lama may have several reincarnations simultaneously, such as incarnations of body, speech and mind and so on. In recent times, there have been well-known emanations before death such as Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje and Chogye Trichen Ngawang Khyenrab.

Using the Golden Urn

As the degenerate age gets worse, and as more reincarnations of high Lamas are being recognized, some of them for political motives, increasing numbers have been recognized through inappropriate and questionable means, as a result of which huge damage has been done to the Dharma.

During the conflict between Tibet and the Gurkhas (1791-93) the Tibetan Government had to call on Manchu military support. Consequently the Gurkha military was expelled from Tibet, but afterwards Manchu officials made a 29-point proposal on the pretext of making the Tibetan Government’s administration more efficient. This proposal included the suggestion of picking lots from a Golden Urn to decide on the recognition of the reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas, Panchen Lamas and Hutuktus, a Mongolian title given to high Lamas. Therefore, this procedure was followed in the case of recognizing some reincarnations of the Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama and other high Lamas. The ritual to be followed was written by the Eighth Dalai Lama Jampel Gyatso.  Even after such a system had been introduced, this procedure was dispensed with for the Ninth, Thirteenth and myself, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

Even in the case of the Tenth Dalai Lama, the authentic reincarnation had already been found and in reality this procedure was not followed, but in order to humour the Manchus it was merely announced that this procedure had been observed.

The Golden Urn system was actually used only in the cases of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dalai Lamas. However, the Twelfth Dalai Lama had already been recognized before the procedure was employed. Therefore, there has only been one occasion when a Dalai Lama was recognized by using this method. Likewise, among the reincarnations of the Panchen Lama, apart from the Eighth and the Ninth, there have been no instances of this method being employed. This system was imposed by the Manchus, but Tibetans had no faith in it because it lacked any spiritual quality. However, if it were to be used honestly, it seems that we could consider it as similar to the manner of divination employing the dough-ball method (zen tak).

In 1880, during the recognition of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Twelfth, traces of the Priest-Patron relationship between Tibet and the Manchus still existed. He was recognized as the unmistaken reincarnation by the Eighth Panchen Lama, the predictions of the Nechung and Samye oracles and by observing visions that appeared in Lhamoi Latso, therefore the Golden Urn procedure was not followed. This can be clearly understood from the Thirteenth Dalai Lamas final testament of the Water-Monkey Year (1933) in which he states:

As you all know, I was selected not in the customary way of picking lots from the golden urn, but my selection was foretold and divined. In accordance with these divinations and prophecies I was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and enthroned.”

When I was recognized as the Fourteenth incarnation of the Dalai Lama in 1939, the Priest-Patron relationship between Tibet and China had already come to an end. Therefore, there was no question of any need to confirm the reincarnation by employing the Golden Urn. It is well-known that the then Regent of Tibet and the Tibetan National Assembly had followed the procedure for recognizing the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation taking account of the predictions of high Lamas, oracles and the visions seen in Lhamoi Latso; the Chinese had no involvement in it whatever. Nevertheless, some concerned officials of the Guomintang later cunningly spread lies in the newspapers claiming that they had agreed to forego the use of the Golden Urn and that Wu Chung-tsin presided over my enthronement, and so on. This lie  was exposed by Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, who the People’s Republic of China considered to be a most progressive person, at the Second Session of the Fifth People’s Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region (31st July 1989). This is clear, when, at the end of his speech, in which he gave a detailed explanation of events and presented documentary evidence, he demanded:

What need is there for the Communist Party to follow suit and continue the lies of the Guomintang?

Deceptive strategy and false hopes

In the recent past, there have been cases of irresponsible managers of wealthy Lama-estates who indulged in improper methods to recognize reincarnations, which have undermined the Dharma, the monastic community and our society. Moreover, since the Manchu era Chinese political authorities repeatedly engaged in various deceitful means using Buddhism, Buddhist masters and Tulkus as tools to fulfil their political ends as they involved themselves in Tibetan and Mongolian affairs. Today, the authoritarian rulers of the People’s  Republic of China, who as communists reject religion, but still involve themselves in religious affairs, have imposed a so-called re-education campaign and declared the so-called Order No. Five, concerning the control and recognition of reincarnations, which came into force on 1st September 2007. This is outrageous and disgraceful. The enforcement of various inappropriate methods for recognizing reincarnations to eradicate our unique Tibetan cultural traditions is doing damage that will be difficult to repair.

Moreover, they say they are waiting for my death and will recognize a Fifteenth Dalai Lama of their choice. It is clear from their recent rules and regulations and subsequent declarations that they have a detailed strategy to deceive Tibetans, followers of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the world community. Therefore, as I have a responsibility to protect the Dharma and sentient beings and counter such detrimental schemes, I make the following declaration.

The next incarnation of the Dalai Lama

As I mentioned earlier, reincarnation is a phenomenon which should take place either through the voluntary choice of the concerned person or at least on the strength of his or her karma, merit and prayers. Therefore, the person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes rebirth and how that reincarnation is to be recognized. It is a reality that no one else can force the person concerned, or manipulate him or her. It is particularly inappropriate for Chinese communists, who explicitly reject even the idea of past and future lives, let alone the concept of reincarnate Tulkus, to meddle in the system of reincarnation and especially the reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas. Such brazen meddling contradicts their own political ideology and reveals their double standards. Should this situation continue in the future, it will be impossible for Tibetans and those who follow the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to acknowledge or accept it.

When I am about ninety I will consult the high Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the Tibetan public, and other concerned people who follow Tibetan Buddhism, and re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. On that basis we will take a decision. If it is decided that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should continue and there is a need for the Fifteenth Dalai Lama to be recognized, responsibility for doing so will primarily rest on the concerned officers of the Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang Trust. They should consult the various heads of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and the reliable oath-bound Dharma Protectors who are linked inseparably to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. They should seek advice and direction from these concerned beings and carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition. I shall leave clear written instructions about this. Bear in mind that, apart from the reincarnation recognized through such legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, including those in the People’s Republic of China.

The Dalai Lama

Dharamsala

(Translated from the Tibetan)

Efforts on to restart talks with China: Tibetan PM-in-exile

Dharamsala, Sep 19, (IANS) :

Efforts are on to restart the stalled talks between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese officials, Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay said Monday, adding the Chinese ”are not reciprocating”.

“We are ready to negotiate with the Chinese anytime, anywhere, but they are not reciprocating,” Sangay said while announcing the portfolios in the newly-constituted cabinet — a blend of old and new faces.

Sangay, who was once dubbed a “terrorist” by China because of his earlier association with the Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest radical group of exiles, said efforts would continue to restart the talks within the framework of the constitution of China.

China and the Dalai Lama’s envoys have held nine rounds of talks since 2002 to resolve the Tibetan issue. But no major breakthrough has been achieved so far.

In the cabinet, Dolma Gyari, three-time former deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament, has been named the new home minister. She is among the three new faces in the cabinet.

Dongchung Ngodup and Tsering Dhundup, both former ministers in the previous cabinet, have been given security and finance portfolios, respectively.

Pema Chhinjor, also a former minister and senior-most member of Sangay’s cabinet, has been allocated religion and culture, while Dicki Chhoyang has got information and international relations and Tsering Wangchuk health.

Sangay has kept with himself the crucial portfolio of education.

The department of education is crucial as the government-in-exile runs more than 100 schools in Tibetan settlements across the globe. In his inaugural speech after being sworn-in last month, Sangay promised to bring out 10,000 professionals in the next two decades.

On formation of his cabinet, Sangay told reporters that “all three regions have been given equal representation in the cabinet”.

On getting parliament’s unanimous approval of the names of the cabinet members proposed by him, Sangay said, “A strong message has been sent to China stating we Tibetans are united”.

Sangay announced the cabinet on the first day of the inaugural session of the 15th Tibetan Parliament Sep 16.

Based in Dharamsala, the government-in-exile is not recognised by any country. There are about 140,000 Tibetans in exile, over 100,000 of them in India.



Deadly earthquake rocks India, Nepal and Tibet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14965598

BBC News South Asia

19 September 2011 Last updated at 07:20

Dozens of people have been killed and many more injured after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook north-eastern India, Nepal and Tibet.

The epicentre of the earthquake was in India’s mountainous Sikkim state, where at least 18 people were killed.

Rain and landslides are hindering search and rescue operations there and officials in Sikkim fear that the toll could rise further.

Several earthquakes hit the region this year, but none caused major damage.

At least five people were killed in Nepal, police there say, and at least seven died in Tibet, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. At least six other people were killed in other Indian states.

Officials in all regions say the death toll is likely to rise as rescuers reach the remote mountainous areas struck by the quake.  Power cuts

The quake struck the mountainous north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim at 18:10 (12:40 GMT) on Sunday, according to the US Geological Survey, and was followed by two strong aftershocks.

Telephone lines were knocked out across the state, while power cuts plunged Gangtok, the capital, into darkness just seconds after the quake hit.

Hundreds of people there spent the night on the streets after buildings developed cracks, reports say.

Tremors were felt in the north-eastern Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura. They were also felt in regions of India: West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi. Bangladesh and Bhutan also felt the quake.

One person was killed during a stampede as people panicked in a town in the eastern state of Bihar, and other deaths were reported near Darjeeling, in West Bengal.

Landslides have blocked the two main highways linking Sikkim with the rest of the country making it difficult for the rescue workers to reach the area, reports say. Buildings evacuated

Just over the border in Tibet’s Yadong County, just 40km (miles) from Sikkim, the earthquake caused hundreds of landslides disrupting traffic, telecommunications, power and water supplies.

Chinese authorities said relief supplies were on the way to the area.

In Kathmandu, 270km (170 miles) west of the quake’s epicentre, buildings were evacuated and traffic came to a standstill.

Three people died when a wall of the British Embassy collapsed. Those dead included a motorcyclist and his eight-year-old child who were struck as they rode past, police said.

Two others died in Dharan in Sunsari district, including a five-year-old child, according to the the Himalayan Times newspaper.

Lawmakers in parliament hurried out of the building shouting when the quake struck in the middle of a debate on the budget, witnesses said.

The Dalai Lama meets Mexican President, China cries foul*

*DHARAMSHALA, *September 10: Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Friday held “private” talks with the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, a move which has riled the communist Chinese government.

The president’s office said in a statement that the pair had discussed “the importance of promoting ethical values in contemporary society” while reiterating his country’s adherence to the “one-China principle.”

Fresh from meeting with another head of state – the Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in August – the Dalai Lama described his talks with the South American leader as “very good.”

The meeting which was not listed on Calderon’s public agenda went on for about 45 minutes at the Los Pinos, the Presidential Palace of Mexico.

Speaking to reporters, the Nobel Peace laureate said that the meeting took place in a “friendly atmosphere” and added that Calderon had “inquired about the situation in Tibet.”

Meanwhile, China on Saturday expressed strong discontent and opposition to the meeting calling it a gross interference in China’s internal affairs.

“This grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, and damages China-Mexico relations,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu in a press release.

The Mexican leader met with the Dalai Lama “despite strong objections and representations from China,” the China Daily said in a report today.

The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived on his third visit to Mexico, late Thursday and was received by representatives of Mexico’s Ministry of Interior.

On September 9, His Holiness gave a keynote address on ‘Building Harmony through Altruism and Compassion’ at the Third International Conference on Human Values and Rule of Law.

Addressing the drug related violence that has plagued the northern borders of Mexico, the Dalai Lama blamed education and upbringing for drug and alcohol dependence.

“Keeping these things in mind,” His Holiness said “it is important to pay more attention to altruism and inner values.”