Today I saw a 'Free Tibet' bumper sticker. Free Tibet for what? A return to religious tyranny and despotism whereby 90% of the population were subjected to slavery or serfdom, coerced by the threat of mutilation, amputation and torture by buddhist priests?
Gelder and Gelder in their book, The Timely Rain, quote a chilling interview with a former Tibetan serf, Tsereh Wang Tuei, who, having stolen two sheep from a monastery had both his eyes gouged out and his hand mutilated, upon the orders of the holy lama. The Dalai Lama may have marketed himself very successfully to the West as the spiritual leader of a religion of kindness, but the historical record shows that Tibetan Buddhist theocracy is far from kind and compassionate. The Tibetan people were oppressed and abused by their priestly government.
If the history of mankind has shown anything, it is that separation of religious belief from government safeguards the rights of people, be it from the religion of Yahweh, Christ, Mohammed or Buddha.
Although far from perfect, under communism slavery and serfdom were abolished, along with the crushing taxes and vile forms of physical punishment exacted by the monasteries. Land owned by the lamas was distributed to the peasants. The first hospitals were built and a system of secular education for all was instituted. Claims made by the Dalai Lama and his brother Tendzin Choegyal that "more than 1.2 million Tibetans are dead as a result of the Chinese occupation" are unsupported by the evidence. The 1953 census showed the entire population of Tibet to be only 1,274,000.
Michael Parenti, in Friendly Feudalism: The Tibetan Myth, 2003, writes
If the Chinese killed 1.2 million in the early 1960s then whole cities and huge portions of the countryside, indeed almost all of Tibet, would have been depopulated, transformed into a killing field dotted with death camps and mass graves -- of which we have seen no evidence. The Chinese military force in Tibet was not big enough to round up, hunt down, and exterminate that many people even if it had spent all its time doing nothing else.
The Tibetan people may yearn for liberation from the Chinese communist government, and for a return of their religious leader, but I doubt if they long for a return to the feudal, fascist, sexist, occultic cruelty that Tibetan Buddhism represents.
The Washington Post in 1999 reported
Many Tibetan farmers, for example, have no interest in surrendering the land they gained during China's land reform. Tibet's former slaves say they, too, don't want their former masters to return to power."I've already lived that life once before," said Wangchuk, a 67-year-old former slave who was wearing his best clothes for his yearly pilgrimage to Shigatse, one of the holiest sites of Tibetan Buddhism. He said he worshipped the Dalai Lama, but added, "I may not be free under Chinese communism, but I am better off than when I was a slave."
Underneath the veneer of the Dalai Lama's benign smile is an aggressive political agenda. The Dalai's brother, Gyalo Thindrup, attempted to bring all Tibetan sects under the Dalai's control, using force whenever necessary. Opposition leader Gungthang Tsultrim, representative of 14 of the Tibetan settlements in exile, was shot to death, and the murderer is said to have received 300,000 rupees from the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile for his services.
The Dalai is guided by a Tibetan Buddhist eschatology - an end times belief - every bit as violent and as intolerant as the Christian vision of the Apocalypse, except, of course, that Tibetan Buddhism rises in the East and conquers the evil forces of the West, under the banner of Shambhala, to impose its dominionist vision on the world. To a western audience he downplays this as mere metaphor, to his Tibetan adherents he means it quite literally.
I'll be posting more on the Dalai. Someone needs to counterbalance the sycophantic public relations machinery he so skillfully manipulates. It's a shame that the Chinese government has not yet achieved the required level of sophistication to inform and educate the starry-eyed Western media about the realities of Tibetan political history.
Links:
Michael Parenti, Friendly Feudalism: The Tibetan Myth, 2003
28 comments:
I totally agree, i have read about it in many sites and it is just starting to flourish. The reality is quite different to what they pretend to be. I went to a Tibetan centre, luxurious in expense to create, they look for altruistic help for their cause, everyone there was brainwashed with very strange ideas of occultism, they take but not give, a christian church in Spain, where i live, at least would do something beneficial like helping homeless people, but my experience with the so called "Lamas" (who claim to be reincarnations of demi-gods) there, was ridiculous, they are arrogant and stupid, although they know what to say to engage helpless humans into slavery again, after giving a few "free" lessons about the "true reality of the mind" (who wants to know?) which i found really funny and could not stop laughing at the nonsense, i started finding out ridiculous contradictions on Dalai Lama speeches and Books, which i had read, i.e. He is against war, and nuclear weapons, he himself says every country should be demilitarized, which is utopic and very nice to listen, but receives the Gold Medal in the American Congress and accepts it, the Most militarized country in the world, they have lots of interests there, and two weeks later he claims to be a "Buddhist Marxist" which is the most stupid statement i have ever heard. Buddhism has got nothing to do with what they preach. There is a campaign supporting a new religious faith, that creates anguish in people, and it is not surprising that they are supported, because they have made themselves victims of communism, very pleasant for some people to listen. The recent book with such a ridiculous name as "The Art of Happiness" written by the number one demi-god, is an insult to any minimally intelligent human being, and it surprised me, that here in Spain, 10,000 devotees attended some teachings, after which they sold the book, to attend the teachings you pay more than watching the "Rolling Stones" live. I think we have to be careful with this strange virus of teachings and centers all around the world, the tibetan government in exile reckons that by 2050 they will have 500 million followers, when they claim to have 14 Million. Beware! The new invasion is coming, i think they Dalai Lama will reincarnate and get to be president of the United States, and brainwash everyone then, that could be in their agenda, you never Know.
I smell a rat. A chinese rat. Go to Tibet (if you can), go to India, look at the real situation with your own eyes. The last thing the people of Tibet need is the sort of stuff that is written in this blog. They are a people on the brink of extinction, if The Dalai Lama is not here doing what he is doing, the Chinese would have just about eradicated the Tibetans. Tibetans follow the Dalai Lama because he is an elected leader by the Tibetan people, not by you, a Chinese sympathizer and most likely some sort of fanatic.
You want history, look at China, Europe, Africa and the rest of the colonised world!!! Tibet has been a simple and peaceful country until the chinese invaded. Now Tibet is full of prisons that are full of Tibetans and you guys are attacking the only person that has brought the worlds attention to these atrocities. What does this say about what kind of people you are.
Christian, chinese, whatever!
i agree dont free tibet if tibet become free you will see north korea number 2 i totally believe that china running tibet is way better than that dalai lama and no im not from china and comment number 2 go fuck your mom piece of shit you are a dirty hippie rat. By the way im from denmark
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Dear Jennifer,
I should point that the current Dalai Lama was a teenager when he fled Tibet. Can a contemporary Brit be held accountable for the horrors of the British colonial system?
You are very correct in noting that Tibet was an underdeveloped country with some rather dubious social practices. So was a great deal of the world in the early 20th century. Yes there was a limited form of slavery in parts of Tibet. At the time slavery was far more widespread in China and (if you feel, as I do, that communist labor camps constitute slavery) still is. I find the assertion that if Tibetans were to have the chance to form a genuinely autonomous government, we would want to revert back to that system deeply demeaning. As you say we yearn for freedom, simply that.
You are also correct in noting that the 1.2 million death count is a lie. This figure was originally conceived by the (US-based) International Commission of Jurists and was deliberate propaganda against the Chinese. The actual figure is probably around 500k, that's still over a quarter of the population. This falsification makes me furious because it draws attention away from the fact that a sizable proportion of all Tibetans were killed. It is impossible to meet a Tibetan who has not lost family members as a result of the invasion.
You should really find someone better to quote than Parenti. He's not a Tibetologist. He's a Left/Authoritarian ideologue who doesn't speak Tibetan or Chinese and simply wrote an essay where he selectively presented aspects of Tibetan history in order to comply to his Marxist class struggle wet dream. If you want a pro-china heavyweight Tibetologist may I recommend Goldstein.
Sorry I tend to get a bit heated. But as you can appreciate this is very close to my heart. May you be happy :)
I don't agree, I am Tibetan and you should see all those who have suffered, died, or self immolated themselves because of what the Chinese have done. And for His Holiness, imagine not being allowed to your home. Some may agree with you, but you have no idea what it's like to have family in Tibet and not knowing if they are still alive or dead. Even the Tibetan religion and culture is banned, the Tibetan children must learn mandarin instead of Tibetan. Before writing this you have to understand and feel what the Tibetans in Tibet and outside of Tibet feel. And those comments that disagrees with you are deleted. Some may agree with you, but you have no idea what it's like to have family in Tibet and not knowing if they are still alive or dead.
I don't agree, I am Tibetan and you should see all those who have suffered, died, or self immolated themselves because of what the Chinese have done. And for His Holiness, imagine not being allowed to your home. Even the Tibetan religion and culture is banned, the Tibetan children must learn mandarin instead of Tibetan. Before writing this you have to understand and feel what the Tibetans in Tibet and outside of Tibet feel. And those comments that disagrees with you are deleted. Some may agree with you, but you have no idea what it's like to have family in Tibet and not knowing if they are still alive or dead.
Kill yourself
Don't Free Tibet
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