Tibetan Buddhism-by mbplee, aka elle

8^th Century Tibet

Tibetan Buddhism is more unique than it appears. To appreciate Tibetan Buddhist culture we have to look into Tibet’s history. Tibetan history goes back more than 4000 years. Before the advent of Buddhism, Tibet was in the kingdom of Shang Shung and that the official religion under that kingdom was the religious tradition of Bon.

Like most primitive religions, animism was the fundamental springboard of those religions. People viewed the world that is pervaded by good and evil spirits and shamans appeared who claimed that they could ward off evil spirits with chants, dances, spells, and talismans. These shamans, priests and divines were important figures in society and enjoyed a high status. Shamans were prevalent during the Yin dynasty in China during the period of 770 – 476 BC. In China animistic Daoism was greatly influenced by the practice of the shamans as was no doubt also influenced the Bon religion in that same period. The similarity of animism, shamanism, and the powerful influence of Daoism in China, already a well established religion in China no doubt must have spilled over to Tibet through all the trading routes.

Early Tibetans were nomadic tribes who herded yak, ponies, mules, sheep and goats and struggled to find pastures. This led to battles between tribes for territorial control. The enemies were killed or made slaves as these nomads ranged into areas such as Sichuan, the Yunnan provinces, Gansu, and Xinjiang, and Qinghai. So their contacts with the Chinese culture were a close one and their identity was considered as another of the tribes of that region. They had developed a religion known as Bon, led by shamans. They practiced animal and human sacrifices. In due course, the Tubo tribe emerged as the dominant tribe and dominated the whole of Tibet. (Tibet comes from the word Tubo.)

Early China-Tibet Ties

In the Tang Dynasty, 618-907, in order to strengthen the bonds of the Chinese Empire, The Emperor Taizong gave one of his daughters, princess Wenzheng in marriage to the Tubo King, Songtsen Gampo of Tibet. This permitted both rulers the security during that period of warlords upsetting the balance of power. Princess was well trained for her role in Tibet. The Tang’s were Buddhists, and the Princess brought with her skilled craftsmen, scribes, and servants all trained in the ceremonial rituals of the Tang Emperors. She was also determined to introduce Buddhism to Tibet. This was bitterly resisted by the Bon shamans who suppressed her influence. The royal marriage ties ensured harmony and promoted active trade between Tibet and China. The rituals of the exchange of gifts and the offering of tributes to the Emperor of China continued. There was, some years later, it was arranged that another Tang Princess was married to another Tubo king to further cement the ties between the two parts of China.

Two pro-Bon Tibetan ministers assassinated the Buddhist Tubo King in 838, and the Bon religion was declared the only acceptable religion in Tibet. Buddhists were persecuted and forced into hiding. Trade however continued over the period 907 to 1279 over several dynasties. There were often skirmishes between the armed warlord gangs against the Tang forces and on one occasion in 750’s Tibetans on horseback rode into the Tang capital of Ghang’an but were eventually repelled.

Meanwhile, Buddhism resurfaced again because the Buddhists cunningly began to accommodate some of the practices of the Bon religion into their practices, resulting in a hybrid religion which created a unique Tibetan Buddhism ever since. Tibetan Buddhism is sometimes referred to as Lamaism.

In the 8^th Century, Songtsen Gampo conquered Shang Shung and established a united Tibet and introduced Buddhism as the chosen religion of the state. The Bon priests attempted to use their influence through the royalty and political ministers by claiming supernatural powers but the Tubo royal family spurred on by the Buddhist priests banned the Bon and the assassination of Lang Darma saw the decline of Bon and the ascendancy of Buddhism. However, the remaining Bon followers adapted and introduced reforms to harmonize with the Buddhist doctrines and 3 Bon sects have managed to survive till today.

Early Buddhism

Siddhattha Gotama was born a prince whose father Suddhadana was the ruler of the sakyas people that lay on the border between Nepal and India. India was essentially a Hindu country at that time. Siddhattha must have noted the poverty and the misery of the people who lived in the villages and contemplated upon it. He observed a poor old villager in his poverty and misery, he saw a sick man when nothing could be done for his suffering but await death, he saw a corpse lying in the dirt road and no one cared or bothered, he was also impressed with a religious recluse huddled in his abject poverty, helpless and dying, but at peace with himself. He began to question the misery and brevity of human existence and he wanted to find an answer. He decided to forsake his luxurious and opulent life as a prince, and donned garments of a hermit and went out to seek an answer. He led the life of a samana devoting his time to searching for the religious answers to all this sufferings around him as a religious medicant. He was tutored by religious Hindu leaders of his time like Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta leading exponents of meditation of the day, but he still did not find the answers he was looking for.

Gautama studied the Hindu scriptures under Brahmin priests but that did not satisfy his questioning nor provide him with the answers. He became disillusioned with the teachings of Hinduism and decided to find solutions from meditation and leading the life of an ascetic (self denial) in the wilderness. Before long he realized that leading the life of an ascetic and mendicant weakened his body and slowed his mind and was not the road to the peace and self-realisation that he hoped for. The answers could not be achieved by self-denial and humility alone. This realization allowed him to rise above the basic Hindu concepts of submission and humility and forced him to seek enlightenment through another avenue.

This avenue was to be a life of deep meditation. Meditation would have been meaningless had he not already spent some years studying Hindu scriptures and Hindu philosophy and he contemplated upon what he knew of Hindu tenets and beliefs. He had begun his quest for knowledge when he was about 29 years of age, and after 6 years of study and meditation and the age of 35 years, while in deep contemplation under a Bhodi tree (a fig tree), he felt enlightened and could understand the causes and reactions to pain and suffering. He felt that he had found the final link to understand human sufferings and how to cope with it. The “enlightened one” had found the answers to “Nirvana” and became Buddha. He now began to preach his new found philosophy to the world about him. Buddha never claimed to be a deity, neither did he ever advocate then worship of any deity, but that his philosophy was the “way” to attain “nirvana” or “peace and tranquillity”, the ultimate of human achievement. This tranquillity may not be achieved in one lifetime, but through the Hindu beliefs of “re-incarnation” through the striving of human endeavour for perfection.

Gautama evolved his philosophy of the “Four Noble Truths” detailed by “The Eight Fold Path” as the aid to achieve Nirvana. [A simplified version is listed because the article is about Tibetan Buddhism rather than Buddhism in general.]

The Four Noble Truths

(1) The first Noble Truth is to acknowledge that pain and suffering is part of this world.

(2) The Second Noble Truth is the root cause of suffering is desire.

(3) The Third Noble Truth is suffering ceases when all desires are ridden.

(4) The Fourth Noble Truth is the path to eliminate desire is to follow the eight-fold path of Buddha.

The Eight-Fold Path

(1) To Posses the Right Views.

(2) To have the Right Resolve.

(3) To have the Right Speech.

(4) To have the Right Behaviour.

(5) To have the right Occupation.

(6) To make the Right Effort.

(7) To have the Right Contemplation.

(8) To have the Right Meditation.

The Essence of Buddhism

It is the belief of Buddhists that we are the masters of our own destiny. We are all able, by our own personal efforts attain “a state of peace and eternal bliss”, i.e. Nirvana. This is the universal appeal of Buddhism, which bridges all faiths because it has no deities, and that the philosophy may apply to all faiths. And the criteria can be universally acceptable. Hence the rapid spread of the Buddhist ideologies across Asia, some independent of other religions and others of infusing Buddhist beliefs on the more animistic and more ancient religions like the Bon and Taoist religions. Examining the degrees of the absorption or influence of Buddhist doctrines into other religions such Taoism, or Bod, or Hindu religions is a fascination topic, and we will be looking into its influence in Tibet:

The Cultural Environment Affecting the Spread of Buddhism

India

Siddhatta Gotama’s philosophies developed under the influence of Hinduism and spurred on by his observations of the poverty, deprivation, and sufferings of the common people of his country. This one man around the year 534 BC finally stirred by the inadequacies of the Hindu religion to satisfy his questioning of the reasons for human suffering began his search for answers. Hinduism had always existed in India in one level or other of evolution since the late Neolithic times (5500 BC), and had always been the culture of India. This was later influenced by Buddhist, and Islamic thinking.

Like most primitive religions Hinduism arose out of the philosophy of animism. Hindus believed that all life have an atman (inner self, or spirit). And naturally the next concept was to find the relationship of birth and death to form some sense of death. The notion of samsara (reincarnation) became an acceptable explanation to ward off the fear of death. That in death there was hope in returning in one form or another in accordance with the virtuous or immoral life one lived. This in turn set the codes for Hindu moral conduct. By leading a moral life (karma) through endless reincarnations one hope to achieve Brahman, when one’s atman achieves eternity or perfection of peace and tranquillity and the attainment of the end of reincarnation.

This philosophy, in Hinduism included the worship of many deities, or polytheism. There was also much ritualism, colourful and ornate decorations, accompanied with bells, cymbals, and other music to maintain the attention of the devotees. It appealed to the population and has served their followers for thousands of years. It formed their culture and values of life. It was sufficient to millions of followers but it remained a religion of the sub-continent of Asia more or less.

Hinduism sustained peoples in a social society that was largely feudal in hierarchy. Hinduism reinforced this feudal hierarchy and created the Hindu caste system that has and continues to dominate the social structure of the Indian psyche and social structure of their society to this day. Buddhism provided an escape from this entrapment of the caste system but not from feudalism.

China-Taoism

To the north of Tibet lies the Kingdom of China, an ancient civilization with a culture quite different from that to the south of Tibet. Geographically, China is much more accessible to Tibet and her citizens than India and despite disputes, Tibetans are ethnically little different from the Han race in most of China. In fact, recent genetic typing has shown that both Han and Tibetan peoples have a common Y-chromosome that establishes their genetic link.

Although Chinese early culture was based on Taoism, and Lao Tze (c.604-521 BC), has been credited as the father of Taoism because of some literature attributed to him, known as “Tao Te Ching”, I believe that he was the first to have formulated those thoughts in writing. Taoist traditions and customs can easily trace back into Neolithic era 4,000 BC, based on oracle bone fragments, and ancient pottery. Clearer evidence of Taoist traditions from archaeological evidence is more apparent during the Shang Dynasty 1766-1050 BC. But written records were not in evidence as writing was only being evolved during this period.

The Dao religion was an animistic religion as all early religions were. They were polytheistic religions, tied closely to physical interpretations and included ancient shamanism in their practices. The social culture was tribalism formed of family or clan groups and family orientated. This eventually developed into larger clans based on a feudal system. This feudal system was a natural evolution from the family hierarchy, and extended to the hierarchy of the war lord structure in territorial hierarchy. However, within these social structures the role of Taoism regulated the lives of the people.

About this same period the rulers of China were known for their harsh and merciless rule of their people. Being a feudal society, in a society of animistic philosophy, and a country occupied by Kings, war-lords, brigands, and bandits, the rulers were often harsh and cruel. There was also much poverty, and suffering, and cruelty, and intolerance, and lives were dispensable. Taoism did not have the elements to pacify this intemperate nature of the rulers. There was a degree of anarchy in that society. Brutality was the solution by those who ruled.

China-Confucianism

About the same period when Lao Tze’s philosophies had surfaced another thinker, Confucius (551-479 BC) appeared. He was disturbed by the lack of national and civil order around him and extolled about the harmonious relationships between peoples. His philosophies were basically about these relationships, summarized as follows:

(1) There should be kindness in a father, and obedience and devotion in the son.

(2) There should be gentility in the oldest Brother and humility and respect in the younger sons.

(3) There should be righteous behaviour in the husband and obedience in the wife.

(4) There should be humane considerations in elders and deference in the juniors.

(5) There should be benevolence in rulers and loyalty of ministers and subjects.

Then there will be harmony.

China was of course a feudal society and remained so until the fall of the Emperors. The Confucian philosophies were but philosophies, but it complimented the philosophy of Lao Tze. Although Lao Tze’s philosophies evolved as the Taoism religion, Confucianism was a philosophy. However, much of his philosophical thoughts were blended into Taoism and later into Buddhist thought that it was difficult to separate the various thoughts. Confucius never claimed any divine revelations, nor has he ever claimed any supernatural insights. They were the thoughts of a sage. But his philosophies blended into the needs of a harmonious communal life and he was venerated for this. Confucianism was not a religious doctrine, but a human philosophy.

The Mongol Influence in Tibet

By the 13^th Century, Buddhism had already spread into China from India and its organizational religious hierarchy. Buddhist philosophies seemed to satisfy the more primitive animistic Tao worship and were gathering a good following. The Moguls appeared curious about this new religion.

Tibetans learned of the might of Genghis Khan in 1207, when he ruthlessly sacked the Tangut Empire that lay to the northeast of Tibet. The Tibetan elders sent a delegation to the Mogul headquarters to pay obeisance to Genghis Khan and accepting the full authority of the Mongols. Tibet was spared the onslaught and was integrated into the Mongol Empire without loss of life or property.

Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis, finally subdued the Chinese Sung Dynasty in 1279 and ruled China until his death in 1294. After the death of this great ruler, the Yuan Dynasty disintegrated and the Mongol Empire began to break up.

The First Grand Lama of Tibetan Buddhism-The Yuan Dynasty

Kublai Khan, the first Yuan Emperor, appointed the first Grand Lama of Tibet. This Grand Lama was to preside over all the other lamas and Buddhists in China. However, the first Grand Lama in recognition of his predecessors the two previous “incarnations” were then retroactively recognized, transforming the 1st lama to be the 3^rd lama. This appointed lama, with the knowledge of the backing of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan then seized and destroyed monasteries that did not belong to his sect and destroyed Buddhist writings that conflicted with his claim to divinity. There followed a struggle for power and control and several subsequent lamas were murdered by their high priests or courtiers in the struggle for sectarian dominance. This shows that the early years of Tibetan Buddhism were fraught with turmoil as the struggle of the different sects for dominance fought brutal reprisals to gain the upper hand. There was little compassion or compromise in the struggles. Isolated Tibet society was a poor and primitive feudal society, as was most of China. Brutality was an accepted social behaviour.

Geographically isolated, and politically protected by the Mongol rulers, the Grand Lama soon gained confidence and absolute power in Tibet. The social order of that period was feudalism, and serfdom, and acceptance of slaves in society. This feudalistic system was incorporated into the Buddhist religious hierarchy with the several ranks of priests and serfs.

The Yuan Dynasty had divided Tibet in areas that came under the charge of Imperial preceptors. Feudalism was encouraged as a system of controlling of the population by the stern hierarchical control. But the Yuan dynasty did not last long and was overtaken by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644= 276 years).

Tibet under the Ming Dynasty

The Ming family were not of Mongolian stock, and were shrewder rulers. They could not be sure of Tibetan loyalties. They maintained power and control by creating dissention and instability among local rulers or warlords. They did this by conferring hereditary titles to several opposing nobles in a province to ensure that their jealousies forced them to maintain their loyalties to the Emperor for gaining his support. It was their form of divide and rule.

So although the most powerful Tibetan family, the Rinpung family, had the Desi Lama (ruling lama) status and position, the Ming Emperor also conferred enough official titles among the Desi lama’s subordinates so that separatist movements were a possibility. Among these a title was conferred on the head of a newly founded sect, the Gelugpa sect, also known as the Yellow sect.

Tibet under the Qing Dynasty

Finally, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911=1767 years) replaced the Ming Dynasty. At this time, the Fifth Desi Lama was Lama Ngawang Losang Gyatso (1617-1682). The Fifth Desi Lama Gyatso was a significant Lama in what he achieved. The Desi Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan Buddhists also established the governance of the people of Tibet. He drew up civil laws, appointed civil governors and ministers of state, and formed a civil government. It was the Fifth Desi Lamas concept of a secular state. He introduced to Tibet costumes and uniforms for court, as well as religious officials in the tradition of the courts of the Chinese Emperors. He was not only a spiritual leader but he also established a secular government, but undoubtedly with his powerful influence upon that government. But his ambitions knew no bounds.

He made reforms to bind the country strongly together. He reinforced the Tibetan Buddhist connections with the most compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, also known as the “Goddess of Mercy” or “Kuan Yin” to the Chinese and the Japanese, but Chenresig to the Tibetans. The Goddess of Mercy had a universal appeal to the people in the Far East and is the link to indicate the possible connections with Chinese Taoism or to early Hindu Sanskrit of early India. He rebuilt the Potala that was believed to have been the divine palace of Avalokitesvara (KuanYin). The Potala was so named after a Himalayan mountain “Lord of the World”.

The Desi Lama began building and re-establishing monasteries in remote or abandoned areas establishing the dominance of his sect throughout Tibet. In some feudal areas where the burden to the local taxes was crippling he ordered these reduced. This act certainly gained him much loyalty. He sent his civil servants and monks to the border towns of Kham and areas in central Tibet. He built the great monastery of Labrang in Kham in a prominent hill top position to emphasis his influence. And he also wrote down much of his thoughts and philosophies.

There is no doubt the Fifth Desi Lama was a great spiritual leader with ideas of an emperor. Soon after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the top hierarchy of the Tibetan Buddhists, the Fifth Desi Lama, the Fourth Panchen Lama, and the Mongol General Gushri Kahn who protected the Desi Lama, went as a delegation to pay their obeisance to the Mongol Emperor of China in Beijing in 1652. The Fifth Desi Lama pledged his allegiance to the Qing Emperor and in return was awarded gifts of gold and silver sufficient to build 13 new monasteries of the Yellow sect in Tibet. The Emperor of China also confirmed that all successive reincarnations of the Desi Lamas were legitimized by the Emperor but suspicious of the ambitions of the Desi Lama increased the powers of the Panchen Lama, also of the Yellow sect.

The Emperor, then officially conferred upon Lozang Gyatso the honorific title of “The Dalai Lama, Buddha of the Great Compassion in the West, Leader of the Buddhist Faith beneath the Sky, Holder of the Vajra.” It may seem that the Emperor of China conferred that title of Dalai Lama on the 5^th Desi Lama of Tibet in 1652/53. [Dalai means “ocean” in the Mongol language, and Lama means wise one or guru in Tibetan.]

The above history is to show the ties and the relationships between the Emperor of China and the religious leaders of Tibet, and how they evolved despite the difficulty of the terrain and communications or the effectiveness of control of the different provinces from Beijing with the army or police. Yet it is due to this difficulty of terrain and communications and the complications of a corrupt and decaying government in Beijing that allowed present and subsequent Dalai Lamas to foster their political ambitions and make bids for autonomy despite the obvious ties already described.

The People of Tibet and Serfdom

Much of Asia, and Europe lived in a Feudal system of hierarchy in society, but in the 17^th century, the period we are looking at, serfdom and slavery was common practice. Life of serfs was dismal and there were no laws to protect their rights. Because of the harshness of life, most serfs were glad to have some shelter and be able to obtain enough food for their families from their masters. The Lords and Masters in Tibet were a handful of established warlords or generals, a few senior and influential monks, and the monasteries who, between them own owned all of the land, including the serfs and slaves attached to the land. Most of Tibetans were serfs on manorial estates. Serfs were treated little better than slaves. Monasteries owned large tracts of the fertile land to support and feed the monks. The feudal system was similar but not the same as that in Europe of the middle ages.

Serfs were under a life bond to work on the Lord’s land or the monastery’s land without pay, to repair the Lord’s houses, transport his crops, collect his firewood, and herd his animals. All this labour provided without pay or reward. The Lords and Lamas bore no responsibilities for the welfare of the serf, nor to his survival. Serfs had to find support for themselves and provide the workforce required by the Lord or Lama. They were not permitted to strike or depart from that estate or they would be persecuted and punished. They were not provided with schooling or medical care. Their masters would instruct the serfs what crops to grow and what animals to rear and they could be separated from their families if their owner decided to lease them out to work to another estate or authority. They had to obtain the permission of their Lord or Lama before they were allowed to get married. The Lord or Lama had complete authority over their lives. Often the pretty serf girls were given domestic work as house servants and used as the master wished.

In spite of the basic tenets of Buddhism such as awareness (of sufferings), kindness and compassion and generosity, and contemplation, these virtues did not result in any better treatment of their serfs. The poverty, and the physical conditions and humiliating role of serfs within the Buddhist monasteries were no better within the monasteries than on the private estates. The Dalai Lama did not seem concerned with the welfare of the serfs who toiled to ensure the wealth and prosperity of the Lamas. Serfs served their masters from birth to death and were treated like livestock. Serfs could never be freed, and were often presented as gifts to other dignitaries or traded, sold or bartered for goods. That was exactly how slaves have been treated all over the world. If they attempted to escape, they would be flogged or even condemned to death and all their possessions taken away. Many were tortured by the primitive and cruellest methods imaginable. Rebellions occurred but when they were suppressed, their punishments were unimaginable to discourage others from following the same path. This barbarity was normal during that period of human existence, the middle ages. But in many countries, especially Tibet, feudal serfdom continued to modern times. In order to understand Tibet and people of that region we have to examine closely the environment.

The Wealth and Influence of the Tibetan Monasteries

It is essential to gain some perspective of the influence of the Dalai Lama over the Tibetan Monasteries, the wealth of the nation, the control of its people, and its political stranglehold over all Tibetans. Drepung Monastery was one of the largest landowners in the world. It owned 185 manorial estates. It owned 300 vast pastures that required 16,000 herdsmen to herd the flocks of sheep, goats, yak, horses, mules, and poultry. The manor houses needed 25,000 serfs to provide services and to maintain the estates. In perspective, It puts the Queen of England to shame, or it could be compared to the grandeur of the Emperor of China. The control and enjoyment of such wealth and luxury was in the hands of a few of the high ranking lamas. The Dalai Lama himself lived very well in a 1000 room 14 story Potala Palace. (Neither Buckingham Palace nor the White House is any comparison in terms of size, ornateness or grandeur, especially when we consider building large edifices in difficult physical conditions.)

For comparison, a secular leader, the retired commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army, and a member of the secular ruling Cabinet headed by the Dalai Lama owned 4,000 square kilometres of land with 3,500 serfs to service the Generals requirements. Tibet had a small army that also acted as law-keepers of the land. It was the army that maintained public order, protected the property of the landowners, and hunted down runaway serfs.

Regeneration of the Priesthood

I have often wondered about the regeneration of the Tibetan priesthood, because I had always thought that the priests observed celibacy. Buddhist priests I have observed are always single, and the nuns too are always single and I had assumed that they practiced celibacy as in the Catholic faith. In Buddhism, in order to achieve Nirvana, one can infer that a celibate lifestyle is critical to leaving behind the world of material or emotional attachment. It is therefore necessary for monks and nuns to renounce certain human desires in their vows of devotion to their beliefs. Celibacy is but one of the two hundred and fifty three vows undertaken by the novice monks and nuns. But in Tibet, this would eventuate in the dissemination of the population as there are an overwhelming number of monks.

It is not uncommon when monks spot some young, intelligent, and curious boy from among the peasant families or the serfs, to induce or persuade their parents to allow such boys to be novice priests. Most peasants or serfs would look upon such a vocation as an honour and privilege to the family. Their son would have a good life, provided for and clothed for the rest of his life and highly respected within the community. The family would be proud for such an honour and will also be relieved of having to feed another mouth and thus are willing members for such a future for their son. But, their son, once accepted as a novice monk will be bonded for his life to the monastery. Dependant upon the monasteries and the priests involved, some of these boys will have escaped a life of poverty and servitude, while some may lead a life of humility and denial, but also suffer harshness and punishments for misdemeanours or even abuse within the monasteries.

Monastic estates are also constantly on the look out to recruit young persons from among the peasants to serve in their monastery as soldiers, or ritual dance performers, or for their requirements for domestic help. They will entice such recruits by persuading the parents that such children will be respected members of the monastery and to give them up willingly. Such recruitment is not so dissimilar to that practiced by the Christian churches in medieval times. For outside of the serfs and the peasants, there was a small middle class Tibetan families who were members of the merchant class, or shopkeepers, and small traders. There were also a small number of independent farmers who subsisted on small plots of land as the free peasantry. These farmers were usually considered poor and struggled in that environment as independents.

Despite the vows of celibacy, there have been reports of rampant sex among abstemious monks practiced within the Gelugpa sect. It was also common for some of the senior monks to take advantage of their position and authority to share the privileges of “Wisdom Consorts” by informing the women that by sleeping with the monks, they would gain “the means to enlightenment”. These women could be nuns or lay women of the order. No doubt pregnancies often resulted in such experiences. Break of the vows of celibacy could mean that it might have required several incarnations to achieve nirvana. Yet is also been said that Buddha himself reached nirvana after he had had experience of this nature. Thus celibacy was by no means strictly observed among Buddhist monks.

The Eudcational System of the Monasteries in Lhasa

In order to understand the psyche of a nation, it is often revealing to examine how the nations citizens have been educated, and to what level of education. This is of special interest in the case of Old Tibet because we have such romantic visions of Tibet as the Shangri La of the universe, cut off from the hustle and bustle of the world of consumerism and capitalism. But have we been romanticizing about the imaginary unknown?

Summarizing what has already been stated, Old Tibet was a feudal system where 90% of her population were serfs and thus were not entitled to an education. 90% of Tibetans were either illiterate or semi-literate. Education was the preserve of the elite, for the lamas or the children of the nobles of Old Tibet. Most of the education was offered through the auspices of the monasteries. This is where we will investigate. There were no public schools for the populace. One fascinating observation is the similarity of the methods of education in Old Tibet as in Hindu India, or Islamic countries. In a way, it should have been expected because much of Old Tibet’s educational system has stemmed from the Hindu system. The following daily routine is typical of the three major monasteries in Lhasa.

(1) Beginning at 2:00 am in the morning, students assembled in ‘The Grand Hall’ of the monastery and began chanting Sutras, led by the presiding priest, repeating what he chanted. During this chanting, tea and porridge, their breakfast would be served. Those who had their own provisions of rTsam-pa (bread made of barley flour) could supplement their meal.

(2) By 7:00 am the above class would break up into smaller groups to attend different classes, in accordance with their level of progress, to the Sutra courtyard outdoors, to listen to the mKhan-po’s teachings and instructions of the sutras. Where there were no available mKhan-pos for that particular class, the students were left to study quietly on their own.

(3) By 9:00 am the more junior students would return to the Grand Hall to chant sutras for another hour. Students who have been there for 9 or more years, considered secondary students, could return to their Khams-tshan to continue their self-study or to have a rest. The rest of the pupils would be required to return to the open Sutra courtyard for self-study. These students were assigned individual stone seats keeping them isolated from one another to maintain order.

(4) By 12:00 mid-day, the third class began. The chanting of sutras heralds this third class. At this time, tea and porridge is again made available with the option of the private supplementary rTsam-pa.

(5) At around 4:00 pm, the fourth class begins with further chanting of sutras for an hour. This ends to formal class instructions.

(6) However if there were any ceremonial activities, the students were expected to participate in such events. This could terminate around eight or nine pm.

(7) By 9:00 pm all the monks would gather in the Grand Hall and await the order of the dGe-skos to go to their own places where they would wrap themselves in their big cloaks and lay down on their right sides in preparation for sleep. The doors of the Grand Hall will then be locked until 2:00 am when the routine repeats itself again.

Although students are divided into 5 grades, there are no examinations, or graduations or qualifications. Novices stayed until they have studied for a sufficiently long time. The main courses offered were Tantras of the three Tantric knife-deities. They also offered the Secondary Tantric knife-deities and the guardian deity. The basic textbook used as named rGyud-gzhung, 34 which are tantric Classics and also many references. Sutras, which are canonical Buddhist scriptures, were taught to all students of the monastery while Tantras were only taught to believers of Buddhism.

The system of education appears to be by repeated repetition of the Sutras. It is all learning by rote. It is an education totally concentrated on Buddhism with no evidence of the sciences or the analytical scientific processes, and so like the education in Hinduism and Islam. Hence the perception of such students is very stereotyped and sterile like the other religions mentioned.

Knowledge was mainly in the hands of the lamas as only the monks and noble classes were educated. The population could thus be easily influenced and manipulated by the Buddhist priests. The continuation of the primitive serf practices in Old Tibet for thousands of years was mainly due to the lack of education and lack of intellectual emancipation of the people of Tibet. Tibet was trapped in the 13^th Century while the world around her was surging ahead into the 21^st Century with no way of breaking into the rigidly established Tibetan hierarchy.

The Ming Dynasty and her influence on Tibet

After the obeisance paid by the 5^th Desi Lama in 1652 and the conferment of his title as Dalai Lama, the Qing Dynasty were fully occupied with more pressing problems closer to home and thus neglected to exert her influence on Tibet.

The East India Company’s Influence in the East (China)

Following Britain’s defeat of the Spanish sailing fleet and gaining dominance of the oceans, Britain sought to find new lands to expand her trade. Britain had entered the industrial age and had manufactured goods to market. Queen Elizabeth I gave a Royal Charter to a new company, The East India Company, to trade in the name of the crown for tea and spices from the Far East and to export her manufactured goods like cloth from her woollen mills. The East India Co’s first base was India.

Imperial China had always been an isolationist nation, but traded her goods from China to Africa utilizing her sailing ships. She did not allow foreign ships to trade on her soil. China, for centuries, because of her advanced civilization, always assumed that she was the most powerful nation on earth, superior to all other nations who were expected to pay tribute to her Emperor. That was the illusion propagated by Chinese mythology and everyone in China believed it. But the East India Company wanted Chinese markets but were denied again and again. But the Chinese Emperor did not realize that over the years of relative peace and comfortable living, that the fighting forces of China were ageing and inefficient. Their weaponry was obsolete. Her army was disorganized and ineffective. Her navy was no match for the European naval gun ships. And the Emperor and his government were unaware that their isolation and lack of industrial progress had left them many decades behind in terms of being a powerful and modern military nation. The East India Company was aware of their advantage and therefore pressed to force open the doors of China trade.

China had a closed door policy and forbade foreign traders in her ports. The Portuguese managed to gain a toe-hold by being given a concession in the tiny island of Macao. The British were determined to open trade with China and followed the Portuguese example by corrupting port officials in order to unload their evil narcotics. Opium was the strategy used by the East India Company directors to maximize their profits even when it was prohibited by the Emperor of China.

A Brief History of Opium

(1) 1500 AD, Portuguese Sailors trading in the Far East discovered the pleasures of smoking opium.

(2) 1527 AD, opium as laudanum was used as painkillers in Europe.

(3) 1600 AD, Persians and Indian wealthy classes began eating and drinking opium mixtures for recreational purposes. Portuguese merchants carried Indian opium through Macao for trade.

(4) 1637 AD onwards, Opium had become the main commodity of the East India Company’s trade with China.

(5) 1700 AD, Dutch merchant’s ship Indian opium to China as well as to the islands of Southeast Asia, and introduce the smoking of opium in a tobacco pipe.

(6) 1729 AD, The Chinese Emperor Yung Cheng prohibits the use of opium in an edict in China with the exception for medical use.

(7) 1750 AD, the British East India Company has complete control and monopoly of Opium growing in Bengal and Bihar. British trading ships dominate the opium trade out to Calcutta to China.

(8) 1767AD, the East India Company’s export of opium into China exceeds 2,000 chests of opium per annum. [A chest of opium equals approximately 135 lbs of opium.]

(9) 1799 AD, Kia King, the Chinese Emperor places a complete ban on the opium trade in China.

(10) 1805-1816 it has been recorded that within these years, Charles Cabot from Boston, Mass. Purchases opium from the British to smuggle under the auspices of the British into China. John Cushing, under the trade name of James and Thomas H. Perkins Company of Boston acquires his wealth from smuggling Turkish opium into Canton. John Jacob Astor of New York City joins in the opium smuggling trade under the trading name of the American Fur Company. Several other Americans were also involved. So were nationalities of many other countries.

(11) 1830, Jardine Matheson & Company of London inherited the Indian Opium trade from the British East India Company when the mandate for the East India Company’s rule of India was withdrawn and the British government took over that function.

(12) March 18, 1939 Lin Tse Hsu, the Imperial Chinese commissioner sent by the emperor to suppress the opium traffickers, ordered the surrender of all opium stores to be destroyed. This prompted the British to send expeditionary warships to China and started the First Opium War.

(13) 1841 By superiority of British Battle ships and canon power the Chinese were defeated. China had to pay a colossal indemnity, and Hong Kong was ceded to Britain. Followed with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842.

(14) 1856 British and French subdue China in the Second Opium War. More exorbitant indemnities were demanded, draining China’s coffers. The western allies then Demand that the importation of opium into China be declared legal by the Emperor.

(15) 1906 Finally Britain agrees to restrict the opium trade in China.

(16) 1910 China finally gets Britain to dismantle the India-China opium trade after all attempts to end that exploitation for the past 150 years.

The purpose of listing the Opium Trade in China is to show how China was brought to her knees by the ruthless British Drug baron’s avarice and it was in reality the real Jewel in the British Crown. The reparations Britain demanded of China after the failed Opium Wars I & II completely drained the coffers of the Chinese Treasury. Britain effectively raped the wealth and government of China mercilessly under the pretence of ‘Free Trade’.

The End of Emperor Rule for China

The exploitation of the Chinese Empire from the beginning of 17^th century till the beginning of the 20^th Century, with the evil effects of the opium trade by the European drug barons, eventually forced the total collapse of the Qing dynasty. China was brought to her knees after 150 years of corruption and opium addiction and the draining the wealth and the spirit of a whole nation. China was ravished with poverty, corruption, and without the will for nation building. It has since taken more than 100 years to recover from the ravages of narcotics and corruption to rebuild the spirit of the people again, but in between China had to go through several revolutions to finally regain independence and self respect for those people once again. It could only have been achieved through the route they had taken, because it cleansed China from external influence and corruption.

It was necessary to rid China of the old traditions of corrupt, cronyism, and nepotism who sold out to foreign interests like the Kuo Min Tang regime. And it was therefore necessary to replace the conservative rule by the privileged families by a very extreme left wing Communist government that MaoTzeTung introduced. Today, in the 21^st Century we see the People’s Republic of China’s government drifting toward the right, toward a capitalistic type economy. The transition in China is still in progress.

Even prior to the Manchu dynasty, the Emperors enjoyed the myth of the superiority of the Chinese culture and the invincibility of the power of the Kingdom. It may have been a fact that there was no other kingdom, known to China that could have challenged the superiority of the Emperor before the 17^th Century. In China’s isolation and self delusion she was not fully aware of the rapid development of the European powers since the early l7th century when the Pilgrims landed in America in 1620. Since then rapid development was occurred in Europe as the competition to exploit the new world was in full progress between Spain, Holland, France, Britain and others. The slave trade, the rivalries of ruling the oceans, and the piracy, and naval battles between these nations, meant that better and more efficient sailing ships and armoury were developed to an extent never imagined before. This was also the period of the European Industrial revolution, and new markets were needed for manufactured products. During this period of rapid industrial development in Europe, China, and other nations east of the Suez were still living in the old world of pre-15^th century. European expansion of their colonial empires had begun in earnest, and it was carried out in a professional militarily fashion unlike anything before in the history of mankind. The less advanced countries in the Far East were no match for such intrusions into their culture and were overwhelmed.

It is not difficult to see that the weak and decaying rule of the Emperor was unable to extend his influence to the more remote provinces of his Kingdom like Tibet, Taiwan, Outer Mongolia, and much of far western China, and hence the erosion of his influence. The downfall of the Qing dynasty in the early 20^th century allowed remote provinces to assume full control of their own states like Tibet, who were encouraged by unfriendly countries like Britain and India. It was natural for the Dalai Lama during this period to assume the grandeur of an Emperor included with his religious position. There was no authority to curb his political ambitions and he ruled unhindered in his role as head of Chinese Buddhism and that of ‘uncrowned Emperor of Tibet’. This illusion was not corrected because Beijing was too weak and ineffective to do anything about it as her rule was disintegrating in China.

In addition to the internal problems of the Beijing government, there were powerful and subversive elements working to erode the influence of China like the CIA (American), MI 6 (British), and the Indian Intelligence, including Russian interests, for their own selfish reasons. But the terrain discouraged many serious attempts to occupy Tibet by foreign nationals. Nevertheless, it gave the Dalai Lama false hopes of gaining independence from China.

Tibet and the People’s Republic of China

In 1910, the final agreement of the British to end the unilateral imposition of the Opium trade upon China, allowed China to rid herself of the corruption and decay that had set into her society. It was the one act that the Qing dynasty managed to accomplish in her final days, to end the Opium trade. Or perhaps Britain privately realized that her nebulous narcotics trade was ethically questionable. But it was too late for the Qing dynasty who were too badly weakened and corrupted to stand up against the revolutionary uprising of October 10^th, 1911 triggered by Sun Yat Sen that eventually led to the “Chinese Nationalist People’s Party”, the Kuomintang. The KMT made an alliance with the fledgling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) In 1912 Sun Yat Sen stepped down as president in favour of ambitious Yuan Shih Kai. Yuan died in June 1916. After Sun Yat Sen’s death in 1925m one of his protégés Chiang Kai Shek took control of the KMT and controlled most of south and central China in 1927. Under the strong influence and support of the enemies of communists, Chiang turned on the Communist party and persecuted and executed many of its leaders planning to exterminate them. The communist party members were thoroughly routed, and in order to escape the bombings and canon fire, supplied from America, they escaped by the “long march” in 1934 into the desolate terrain of Shaanxi where they established a guerrilla base at Yan’an to harass the KMT. Out of the “long march” a leader evolved, Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung).

Despite the resolve of both these parties to fight the Japanese invasion of China 1931-45 independently of one another during those 14 years, there was bitter enmity between the KMT and the CCP. The Japanese were eventually defeated in 1945. The CCP began to gain more and more peasant support as a government of the people whilst the KMT had the support of the shrinking bourgeoisie elite. By 1945, the CCP controlled most of the country, and fearing capture, Chiang Kai Shek fled with the remnants of his KMT government and the remnants of his army to Taiwan vowing to re-conquer the mainland one day. On October 1^st 1949, Mao Tse Dung proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the sole legitimate government of China.

Odd as it may seem, the KMT in its attempts to unify the remnants of their empire had already sent representatives to Tibet re-establish the KMT authority there. Hence Tibet was under the influence of the KMT at that point in time. Supporting the KMT were many British and American agents who were located in Lhasa advising the Tibetan government to resist any control from the CCP in Beijing. Just to name those involved in the Tibetan intrigues were Lowell Thomas, commentator with the Columbia Radio Station of America, Hugh Richardson, and Reginald Fox were observers for Britain, even the US secretary of state Dean Acheson was implicated in pro-Tibet independence bias. Acheson had sent a cable to the American Embassy in India saying, “Washington wishes to see Tibet’s military resistance capability secretly beefed up”. What is certain is that the CIA and MI 6 were there in an effort to undermine the PRC’s control of Tibet. The PRC were determined to remove the KMT and foreign influence on their back garden.

As Tibet, was theoretically still under the jurisdiction of the Kuomintang (KMT), it was the PRC’s immediate duty to relieve Tibet from the KMT. Hence, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) set about to enter Lhasa in 1951 despite obstacles placed in the way to prevent easy access, liberating Tibet from the KMT and foreign agencies based there. The first step was to expel the KMT office of “The Tibet Office of the Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs” in July. All the other foreign representatives were also expelled. Tibet was liberated from the KMT and back into the fold of the PRC.

With 40,000 PLA troops ready to enter Lhasa, the 14th Dalai Lama sent a delegation to Beijing to discuss an agreement that would be acceptable for the peaceful reunification of Tibet into the PRC. This document affirmed the Chinese sovereignty over Tibet and was signed and sealed on the 23^rd of May 1951 and known as The Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. A copy follows:

The Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet

“Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. Signed and sealed in Beijing on 23 May 1951. The preamble to the agreement stressed that Tibet had a "long history within the boundaries of China," outlined the aggressive imperialist forces in Tibet that needed to be "successfully eliminated" and claimed that both parties (Tibetans and Chinese People's Government - CPG) had, as a result of talks, agreed to "establish the agreement and ensure that it be carried into effect."

1. The Tibetan people shall unite and drive out imperialist aggressive forces from Tibet; the Tibetan people shall return to the big family of the Motherland ­ the People's Republic of China (PRC).

2. The local government of Tibet shall actively assist the PLA to enter Tibet and consolidate the national defences.

3. In accordance with the policy towards nationalities laid down in the Common Programme of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee, the Tibetan people have the right of exercising national regional autonomy under the unified leadership of the CPG.

4. The central authorities will not alter the existing political system in Tibet. The central authorities also will not alter the established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama. Officials of various ranks shall hold office as usual.

5. The established status, functions and powers of the Panchen Ngoerhtehni shall be maintained.

6. By the established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama and of the Panchen Ngoerhtehni are meant the status, functions and powers of the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the ninth Panchen Ngoerhtehni when they had friendly and amicable relations with each other.

7. The policy of freedom of religious belief laid down in the common programme of the CPPCC shall be carried out. The religious beliefs, customs and habits of the Tibetan people shall be respected and lama monasteries shall be protected. The central authorities will not effect a change in the income of the monasteries.

8. Tibetan troops shall be reorganised step by step into the PLA and become a part of the defence force of the PRC.

9. The spoken and written language and school education of the Tibetan nationality shall be developed step by step in accordance with the actual conditions in Tibet.

10. Tibetan agriculture, livestock raising, industry and commerce shall be developed step by step and the people's livelihood shall be improved step by step in accordance with the actual conditions in Tibet.

11. In matters relating to various reforms in Tibet, there will be no compulsion on the part of the central authorities. The local government of Tibet shall carry out reforms of its own accord, and, when the people raise demands for reform, they shall be settled by means of consultation with the leading personnel of Tibet.

12. In so far as former pro-imperialists and pro-Kuomintang [Guomindang] officials resolutely sever relations with imperialism and the Kuomintang [Guomindang] and do not engage in sabotage or resistance, they may continue to hold office irrespective of their past.

13. The PLA entering Tibet shall abide by all the above-mentioned policies and shall also be fair in all buying and selling and shall not arbitrarily take a needle or thread from the people.

14. The CPG shall have centralised handling of all external affairs of the area of Tibet; and there will be peaceful co-existence with neighbouring countries and establishment and development of fair commercial and trading relations with them on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect for territory and sovereignty.

15. In order to ensure the implementation of this agreement, the CPG shall set up a Military and Administrative Committee and a Military Area HQ in Tibet and - apart from the personnel sent there by the CPG - shall absorb as many local Tibetan personnel as possible to take part in the work. Local Tibetan personnel taking part in the Military and Administrative Committee may include patriotic elements from the local government of Tibet, various districts and various principal monasteries; the name list shall be set forth after consultation between the representatives designated by the CPG and various quarters concerned and shall be submitted to the CPG for appointment.

16. Funds needed by the military and Administrative Committee, the Military Area HQ and the PLA entering Tibet shall be provided by the CPG. The local government of Tibet should assist the PLA in the purchase and transport of food, fodder and other daily necessities.

17. This agreement shall come into force immediately after signature and seals are affixed to it.

Signed and sealed by the delegates of the CPG with full powers by Chief Delegate Li Weihan (Chairman of the Commission of Nationalities Affairs) and three delegates. Delegates with full powers of the local government of Tibet by Chief Delegate Kaloon Ngabou Ngawang Jigme (Ngabo Shape) and four delegates. “

This document ensured the integrity of the Buddhist hierarchy, the monasteries, and the religion of Buddhism. It granted the PRC the responsibilities of defense and the external politics of Tibet in keeping with the status of a province within China. In other words Tibet was to have the role of a dependent state. The 14^th Dalai Lama wanted to have a fully autonomous and independent status for Tibet. So there was a stalemate on the status of Tibet. On after thought, the Dalai Lama was not happy with the agreement and his supporters fomented unrest among the people. By 1956 fierce Tibetan resistance began to appear with stronger repression exercised by the PLA troops, no doubt tacitly support by the monks and outside supporters of the Dalai Lama.

As a show of strength, the PLA, Tan Guansan the Chinese Representative in Tibet invited the Dalai Lama to visit the PLA’s military camp to observe a parade. Unable to refuse, a rumor was started that this invitation was a pretext to lure the Dalai Lama in order to kidnap him. This triggered a massive demonstration of thousands of people to stop the Dalai Lama from going to the PLA camp. This broke out into riots that rapidly expanded into a national uprising. The PLA sent in the troops to restore order and thousands were killed before order was restored. The Dalai Lama took advantage of the upheaval and confusion and slipped out of Tibet on 17^th March, 1959. He was given asylum in India and in his press conference refuted the 17-Point Agreement. Six days later, on 23rd March, 1959 the flag of the PRC was hoisted over the Potala Palace.

The 14^th Dalai Lama was not prepared to accept the role of the Spiritual Leader of the China’s Buddhists, without the trimmings of also being Tibet’s Political Leader, i.e. full autonomy of an Independent nation within the borders of the Chinese State. Of course this would have been an impossible situation for the PRC to accept because it would have set the precedence for Taiwan. It was a dead issue that the Dalai Lama could not appreciate.

So was it the pride of a Dalai Lama that has caused him to forsake his Tibetan people their spiritual leader? He would have been the most powerful religious leader in the world if he had achieved his aims. Not unless he is prepared to compromise, he will have lost everything, and Tibetan Buddhism will revert to India from whence it evolved.

Dalai Lama’s 5 point Peace Plan

On 21^st September, 1987, 36 years after after the 17-point peace plan the Dalai Lama addresses the US Congress with his proposal of a 5-Point Peace Plan for Tibet. Essentially stating:

“This peace plan contains five basic components:

1. Transformation of the whole of Tibet into a zone of peace;
2. Abandonment of China's population transfer policy which threatens the very existence of the Tibetans as a people;
3. Respect for the Tibetan people's fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms;
4. Restoration and protection of Tibet's natural environment and the abandonment of China's use of Tibet for the production of nuclear weapons and dumping of nuclear waste;
5. Commencement of earnest negotiations on the future status of Tibet and of relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. “

Item 5 means to renegotiate a new agreement on the status of Tibet from scratch. Even as a layman I cannot see that this would even induce the PRC to start a new negotiated status for Tibet. Time is not on the Dalai Lamas side. If he continues to remain immovable, he will die a self imposed exile and the influence of an independent Dalai Lama will fade into the history books.

Tibet Under the People’s Republic of China

Despite the fact that the head lama, the Dalai Lama, of Tibet chose to go into voluntary exile the government of the PRC proceeded with the 17-Point plan that had been signed by both parties. The Tibet Autonomous Region, TAR, was formed in 1965, and the deputies of the Tibetan People’s congress, at all levels in Tibet were made up of 90% ethnic Tibetans. Tibetans also account of 74.9% of the local cadres in Tibet. 19 Deputies from Tibet are represented in the highest legislature of China in the National People’s Congress. Ethnic Tibetans are fully represented at all levels of Tibetan as well as at the National level of government.

One of the most significant accomplishments of the PRC in Tibet after 1959 Tibetan revolt that was staged by the monks to create havoc was the establishment of the rule from Beijing. With this authority, the PRC abolished slavery and the primitive serfdom system in Tibet. The PRC removed the ancient but crushing taxes in the Tibetan system that kept serfs tied to their masters for life. The new government started many modernizing projects to provide employment for the released serfs and slaves in order to reduce unemployment and begging. Many of the projects included schemes like road and bridge building, the Tibetan railway, schools, running water, and electrical supply networks.

Another major project was to establish secular schools breaking the monopoly of the monasteries as the only source of education. Now education was open to all. The Army began setting up a number of primary schools in Qamdo, Bome, and Nyingchi, and later in Lhasa. The Lhasa’s No1 Primary School was established in August, 1952 catering to the Tibetan teaching and administrative staff with almost 2000 students.

By the end of 1998, Tibet boasted 926 schools of various kinds and 3,314 teaching centers. Tibet has plans to integrate the educational system to all levels as the system progresses. Tibet also has 4 institutions of higher learning and 16 vocational schools and a Medical school.

Other tangible improvements made since the liberation of Tibet include;

(1) The Qinghai-Tibet Railway that will attract tourists to Tibet

(2) The first large hospital built in 1985

(3) The first Tibetan University graduate in 1988

(4) The GDP of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) today is 30 times that before 1950. And Tibet has the second highest wages in China.

(5) The TAR today has 22,500 km of highways compared to none in 1950.

(6) Tar has created secular education since 1959, and has 25 scientific research institutes and non before 1959.

(7) Infant mortality has dropped from 43% in 1950 to 0.66% in 2000.

(8) Life expectancy has risen from 35.5 years in 1950 tio67 in 2000.

(9) Allocation of 300 million Renminbi since 1980 for the maintenance and preservation of Tibetan monasteries.

All this has happened in the last 2 generations. Tibet will be unrecognizable in another 2 more generations as the serfs and their children replace their forefathers. The level of education, with the introduction of the dual language option will allow greater freedoms to the ordinary Tibetans for the coming centuries.

With the emancipation of the ordinary Tibetan from serfdom, the introduction of secular education available to all, and the dual language, but ensuring the preservation of the Tibetan culture and traditions, it is a win win formula for the People’s Republic of China. If the Dalai Lama stubbornly refuses to compromise and return to Tibet, his influence as the leader of the Buddhists will wane. Tibet will be a different country without the old traditional Dalai Lama in the very near future.