Over 60 years ago, the People's Republic of China ordered its troops to spread into the region southwest of its borders to start campaign of “cultural cleansing.” The troops quickly invaded the sovereign nation of Tibet and seized control. As the following months turned to years and years turned to decades, Chinese government continues its campaign, committing relentless, terrible acts of violence on Tibetans forced to endure the brutal encounters. More than 1 million Tibetans have been killed.
The occupying Chinese military has destroyed 6,000 Buddhist monasteries, and the government currently holds an estimated 3,000 religious and political prisoners either in prisons or tortured and placed in work-camps. The XIV Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, fled his country after the 1959 Tibetan Uprising. For the past 53 years, he has lived in India as an exile. The mountain town of Dharamsala in the Indian province of Himachal Pradesh provides sanctuary to the Dalai Lama and has become his home as well as home to hundreds of Tibetan refugees who have founded the headquarters for the Tibetan Government in Exile.
Experiencing the bold friendliness of the Tibetan people as I walked the meditation path through the forest to the mountaintop temple has strongly instilled in me new concepts on how a collective of people can embrace and struggle against terrible injustices committed against them with astounding resilience and loving patience.
These thoughts stuck with me as I approached the Tsuglagkhang temple. Above a series of Buddhist prayer wheels, I saw a sign standing reading, "These wheels containing Avalokiteshvara's mantra 'Om Mani Padme Hum' are built with the prayer that his holiness, the Dalai Lama, lives for many eons and all all his wishes be fulfilled. Pray and show our solidarity for those brave men and woman of Tibet who lost their lives for the cause of Tibet. Pray for the happiness of all sentient beings".
Hours later when leaving the monastery I couldn't help but smile when passing a roadside sign that read, "Better late than never."
The occupying Chinese military has destroyed 6,000 Buddhist monasteries, and the government currently holds an estimated 3,000 religious and political prisoners either in prisons or tortured and placed in work-camps. The XIV Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, fled his country after the 1959 Tibetan Uprising. For the past 53 years, he has lived in India as an exile. The mountain town of Dharamsala in the Indian province of Himachal Pradesh provides sanctuary to the Dalai Lama and has become his home as well as home to hundreds of Tibetan refugees who have founded the headquarters for the Tibetan Government in Exile.
Experiencing the bold friendliness of the Tibetan people as I walked the meditation path through the forest to the mountaintop temple has strongly instilled in me new concepts on how a collective of people can embrace and struggle against terrible injustices committed against them with astounding resilience and loving patience.
These thoughts stuck with me as I approached the Tsuglagkhang temple. Above a series of Buddhist prayer wheels, I saw a sign standing reading, "These wheels containing Avalokiteshvara's mantra 'Om Mani Padme Hum' are built with the prayer that his holiness, the Dalai Lama, lives for many eons and all all his wishes be fulfilled. Pray and show our solidarity for those brave men and woman of Tibet who lost their lives for the cause of Tibet. Pray for the happiness of all sentient beings".
Hours later when leaving the monastery I couldn't help but smile when passing a roadside sign that read, "Better late than never."
A Tibetan doctor diagnosing a patient by feeling their pulse - Dharamsala.
A faithful Buddhist woman in prayer - Gyuto Ramoche Monastery.
Monks in prayer- Tsuglagkhang Temple.
Child monk ascends the monastery stairs - Gyuto Ramoche Temple.
Studying Tibetan scripture - Mcleod Ganj.
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