The Finger and the Moon

Temple in Tibet, built by Buddhists from Fujian

"Tibetan Adventure," is a WBIA blog with a perspective that many share but few share in public. The author visits Dharamsala, then writes of attending a lecture on the situation in Tibet after he, himself, has just been in Tibet:

"This is the heart of the exile rhetoric, the heart of the propaganda machine whose tactics are almost just as absurd as the Chinese. The question for me is how not to become a complete cynic when people here seem to know little of the actual situation in Tibet and care only for some dream that they have created, a dream of a Tibet that never was and never will be."

The photo is from the set of "The Touch",
starring Michelle Yeoh, shot in Tibet in 2001.

"At the end of the presentation someone asked how many of the monks in the video ... show[n] of the protests were really Chinese military dressed up to incite unrest. Robbie stifled a smirk just in time and rather admirably responded with a long delicate explanation of the actual situation of Tibetan monks and Tibetan people. People here in Dharamsala are often completely clueless. Tibetan monks have never been anything like the Bhurmese (sic) or Vietnamese monks who defy authority with total conviction in non-violence. The simple fact is, Tibet people are a fiery bunch. Even many people who have studied their history seem to think that the battles between monasteries are ancient history unconnected to the current situation inside and outside of Tibet. Even after Barnett gave his explanation someone still said, but monks aren't supposed to do any violent acts. Although it has been a longstanding policy of the Tibetan government in exile to create a rosy picture of Tibetans it now seems to be backfiring because people don't really understand the needs and wants of the people they say they are fighting for. The people who circulated the photos claiming that military officers dressed up as monks and rioted are doing more to hurt the Tibetan cause then anyone. It is amazing to me that people call for truth and dignity and then try to use crude lies and insubstantial evidence to "convince" others to join their movement. But then, this is the suffering and ignorance of Samsara, and Samsara is known to be endless."

Is this a movie?

Trungpa Rinpoche once said that the world will not be saved by religion alone; that secular enlightenment must also play a role... and that, he said, was his vision of Shambhala. You can watch a video of him explaining this, by clicking here.