His Holiness the Dalai Lama while addressing Tibetan pilgrims recently arrived from Tibet and Tibetan teachers gathered for a workshop on Secular Ethics in the Sera Lachi Assembly Hall, Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement declared that Tibetans in Tibet are the real masters of the country on Friday morning. His Holiness also added that it is important that all three provinces of Tibet remain united.
“Tibetans in Tibet are the real masters of the country. Despite facing immense hardship, you have kept your spirits up. In 1959, the whole of Tibet was thrown into turmoil. There is a story that after the bombardment of Lhasa, Mao Zedong asked what happened to the Dalai Lama. When he heard that I had escaped to India, he is said to have replied, ‘Then we’ve lost.’” His Holiness the Dalai Lama said to the gathering.
The Tibetan spiritual leader told that the Chinese authorities thought the issue of Tibet would simply fade away, but even after 58 years it hasn’t. In 1959, many countries had no idea about Tibet; they do now. His Holiness added that Tibetans have been in exile for 58 years and created settlements, re-established the centres of learning.
“During the cultural revolution there was great destruction of religious institutions in both China and Tibet. However, after Deng Xiaoping eased restrictions there has been a widespread revival of interest. There are said to be 400 million Buddhists in China and Xi Jinping has stated in Paris and Delhi that Buddhism has an important role in Chinese culture. There are good reasons not to be demoralized or downcast.” His Holiness added “All beyond the expectations of tough Chinese officials. Because of the strength of spirit in Tibet, we in exile have been able to survive.”
While there were many Teachers at the workshop attending his speech, His Holiness in special attention to the teachers told that Nehru had advised that the practical way to prevent the vanishing of the cause of Tibet was to educate Tibetan children.
“Modern education tends to focus primarily on material development. Ancient Indian tradition acknowledged the usefulness of understanding the workings of the mind and emotions, something I think would be relevant and powerful today. Tibetan children have the advantage that they can learn about this in their own language, because the Indian literature that describes these things was translated into Tibetan. Of course, I just talk about these thing, but it’ll be up to teachers like you to work out how to make this work in practice.” His Holiness added.
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