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from FaithWorld:
Report from Tibet: “We believe in Buddhism, Chinese believe in nothing”
Tibet is richer and more developed than it has ever been, its people healthier, more literate, and better dressed and fed. But the bulging supermarkets, snappy new airports and gleaming restored temples of this remote and mountainous region cannot hide broad contradictions and a deep sense of unhappiness among many Tibetans that China is sweeping away their culture.
(Photo: A Tibetan woman spins her praying wheel as she walks around the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, March 10, 2010/China Daily)
Beijing has spent freely to bring development to restless Tibet, part of a grand strategy to win over the proudly Buddhist people by improving their standard of living. Lhasa is starting to look like any other middle-tier Chinese city, with the same fast food outlets and mobile phone stores, and the same unimaginative architecture.
Large sums have also gone into restoring monasteries and temples, the centre of life for devoutly Buddhist Tibetans, bolstering government claims that China respects religious rights.
What China has failed to do is address the alienation many Tibetans feel in the face of breakneck economic progress.
from FaithWorld:
Q+A – Does Dalai Lama meeting help or hurt Obama?
Dalai Lama in a 11 Nov 2009 file photo in India/Adnan Abidi
U.S. President Barack Obama will meet the Dalai Lama on Thursday after avoiding a get-together before his China trip last year. The White House visit by the Tibetan Buddhist leader comes at a time of increased tension between the United States and China, which has warned that the session will hurt Sino-U.S. ties.
Since 1990 every U.S. president has met the Dalai Lama at the White House. President George H.W. Bush started the tradition after the Chinese authorities crushed student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and an uprising in Tibet.
from Jeffrey Jones:
Dalai Lama: Afghan war a failure
The Dalai Lama believes the war in Afghanistan has so far been a failure, saying military intervention creates additional c
omplications for the country.
The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, making his first visit to the Western Canadian city of Calgary in 30 years, said foreign military intervention against Taliban insurgents has only served to make the fundamentalist group more determined.
The war has been "so far, I think, a failure," he told reporters, adding that he could not yet judge its outcome. "Using military forces, the other hard-liners become even more hard ... and due to civilian casualties the other side also sometimes is getting more sympathy from local people."
U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing calls to boost troop levels and alter strategy to reverse what officials have said is a deteriorating military situation. But the Dalai Lama said it would all have been unnecessary had the United States and the European Union spent more on aid to the region.
"Instead of spending billions and billions of dollars for killing they should have spent billions .... on education and health in rural areas and underdeveloped areas. (If they had) I think the picture would be different."
-- Written by Scott Haggett
(Photo: The Dalai Lama speaks at a conference in Calgary, Alberta, on October 1, 2009. REUTERS/Todd Korol)
from Changing China:
Dalai Lama’s laugh lines
Before the Dalai Lama spoke on the sober subjects of religion and the environment in Taiwan during a speech this week, he opened with a quip about his English.
"First thing, no grammar, no proper grammar," the 73-year-old said with a low-pitched staccato laugh while addressing a full auditorium of residents in the southern city of Kaohsiung. "There is a danger to get misunderstandings, so I always tell you, be careful Dalai Lama's broken English."
from Photographers Blog:
Tibetan mountain spirits
Every summer the green hills of Rebkong are home to unique celebrations during which local Tibetans believe the mountain gods visit villagers -- and each other -- through human mediums.
Reuters photographer Christina Hu documents the celebrations in the multimedia presentation above. To read the full story click here.
from FaithWorld:
Tibetans welcome mountain spirits
Every summer the green hills of Rebkong are home to unique celebrations during which local Tibetans believe the mountain gods visit villagers -- and each other -- through human mediums.
See a report on these colorful celebrations by my colleagues Christina Hu and Lucy Hornby here and a picture slideshow here.
from Africa News blog:
Did Dalai Lama ban make sense?
Organisers have postponed a conference of Nobel peace laureates in South Africa after the government denied a visa to Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who won the prize in 1989 - five years after South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu won his and four years before Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk won theirs for their roles in ending the racist apartheid regime.
Although local media said the visa ban followed pressure from China, an increasingly important investor and trade partner, the government said it had not been influenced by Beijing and that the Dalai Lama's presence was just not in South Africa's best interest at the moment.
from Photographers Blog:
Monks of the Namo Monastery – Audio slideshow
Click here or on the image above to view an audio slideshow from the Namo Monastery.
from FaithWorld:
A selection of religion reports: week of March 8
Reuters publishes many more reports on religion, faith and ethics than we can mention on the FaithWorld blog. We sometimes highlight a story here, but often leave an issue unmentioned because it was already covered on the wire, or we have neither the time nor any extra information for a blog post. Here's a sample of some of the stories we've published over the past week:
Philippines says open to amending Muslim autonomy law 13 Mar 2009
China says willing to meet Dalai Lama's envoys 13 Mar 2009
Jews ask pope for Holocaust studies in schools 12 Mar 2009
Turkey denies firing editor over Darwin article 12 Mar 2009
Pope says pained over "hate, hostility" against him 12 Mar 12 2009
China says it must approve Dalai Lama reincarnation 12 Mar 2009
U.S. says some states curb free speech in name of religion 12 Mar 2009
Australia says may quit UN racism conference 12 Mar 2009
Pope admits Holocaust denier affair was mishandled 12 Mar 2009
Pope to visit Rome synagogue in autumn 12 Mar 2009
Malaysia Christians battle with Muslims over Allah 11 Mar 2009
"Big Love" network apologizes to Mormons 11 Mar 2009
Catholics protest Connecticut church finance bill 11 Mar 2009
Russia church offers to help Kremlin weather crisis 11 Mar 2009
Pope admits Holocaust denier affair was mishandled 11 Mar 2009
Cardinal says bad bankers must ask God's pardon 11 Mar 2009
US fertility patients want final say on embryos 11 Mar 2009
Dalai Lama slams China over Tibet "suffering" 10 Mar 2009
Cameroon demolishes street stalls for Pope's visit 10 Mar 2009
Stem cell go-ahead puts Obama at odds with pope 10 Mar 2009
Somali cabinet votes to implement sharia law 10 Mar 2009
FACTBOX: Embryonic stem cells, the ultimate master cell 10 Mar 2009
Stem cell advocates finally get their Obama moment 09 Mar 2009
French filmmaker slammed for likening illegals to WWII Jews 09 Mar 2009
Vatican paper: Washing machine liberated women most 09 Mar 2009
Chechnya wants newborns to be named after Mohammad 09 Mar 2009
Obama to let health institute decide on stem cells 08 Mar 2009
US stem cell announcement only a first step 08 Mar 2009
Pope to visit Holocaust memorial during Israel trip 08 Mar 2009
Turkish Mosque Holds First Official Kurdish Sermon 08 Mar 2009
(Photo credits from top: Romeo Ranoco, Philippe Wojazer, Alessia Pierdomenico, Larry Downing, stringer)
from FaithWorld:
Tibet exiles embrace new “living Buddha”
He is a "living Buddha" with an iPod, the 23-year-old possible successor to the Dalai Lama who may bridge the gap between Tibet's elder leaders and both an alienated Tibetan youth and a suspicious China.
For the Karmapa Lama, who fled Tibet nine years ago to India and is now the third highest ranking Lama, it is time for Tibetans to modernize to survive.
