"I strongly wish self-immolations would stop soon"

Home Issues

New Delhi, India -- Self-immolation for the cause of Tibet has claimed 28 lives in November alone. The total number of deaths since this trend began is 90. But not all Tibetan spiritual leaders agree with this method of protest.

<< "I am shocked that Tibetans are taking such actions. I strongly feel this (self-immolations) should stop, this is definitely not a practice of Buddhism," said Karmapa Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje in an interview to Hindustan Times. (HT Photo/Jasjeet Plaha)

In a nation-wide exclusive interview with the Hindustan Times, His Holiness the 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje, head of the Karma Kagya lineage of Tibetan Buddhism said the escalating number of self-immolations was a cause of great concern to him.
“This is definitely not a practice of Buddhism. I strongly wish this would soon stop. The practice of Buddhist dharma is our greatest inheritance as Tibetans. This enjoins upon us to preserve the human existence. It is through this ... that we are able to achieve liberation.”

He said the Buddha himself had said that we must sustain this body and have a clear conscience. Self-immolation not only harms oneself but also creates confusion in the minds of others. “The human existence is like a temple. We have to look at non-violent methods... One needs to calm one’s mind, when there are negative emotions, the mind becomes heated leading to violent actions.”

Karmapa said he has very little knowledge or interest in politics be it that of India or China and feels that true devotion to Buddhist practices with its compassion and wisdom will show everyone a way out of their dilemmas.

When asked if he feels a sense of regret that the Dalai Lama does not recognise him as a reincarnation of the Karmapa Lama - he supports Ugyen Trinley Dorje who lives in Dharamshala - he said he had immense respect for the Dalai Lama’s scholarship of Buddhism.

When asked whether there was a conflict of interest between him and the other Karmapa, he said there were some issues, but said that his primary concern today was the practice of self-immolation and this is what he was most concerned about.

You can read the interview below:

There have been 90 self-immolations so far by Tibets protesting for the cause of freeing Tibet from Chinese rule. In November alone, there were 28 deaths. What is your view on this?
As a Tibetan born in Tibet, this escalation in self-immolations is a cause of concern for me. We Tibetans are known for our spirituality, for our practice of compassion and wisdom, our practice of Buddhist dharma. This is our greatest inheritance. I am shocked that Tibetans are taking such actions. I strongly feel this should stop, this is definitely not a practice of Buddhism.
Why do you think more and more people are taking to this method of protest?
I would say that we take these drastic measures when our mind if heated by emotions. We lose touch with our spiritual inheritance. We need to calm the mind so that we can tackle these situations.
What form of protest do you advocate?
Again, I have to speak from a spiritual perspective. We need to fall back on our spiritual practices. When we feel unclear and confused we must try to apply our spirituality to this and try and work out meaningful ways.
 
How can you draw attention to the cause this way?
When the mind is clear, when the tools we apply are transparent, we can achieve what we want. We need to fall back on our Tibetan way of life to bring clarity and happiness. If we can do, this we can achieve anything we want.
 
Does it bother you that the Dalai Lama does not recognise you as an authentic incarnation?
As a Tibetan born in Tibet, I have the highest respect for the Dalai Lama. He is a learned scholar of Buddhist philosophy, he is a learned scholar in general.
Why are you so vehement about how wrong self-immolations are?
In the experience of Buddhist dharma, we are taught to preserve the human existence. Through this existence, we are able to achieve wondrous things, achieve liberation. The Buddha himself said that we must sustain this body and maintain a clear conscience. Self-immolations not only harm oneself but also create confusion in the minds of others. We need to remind ourselves where we come from. We need to remember our philosophy. Non-violence cannot evolve from such drastic methods. The human existence is like a temple, as long as we remain in human existence, we must develop this physical being.

The Tibetan prime minister in exile has also while not endorsing self-immolation said that it is the sacred duty of every Tibetan to support self-immolations for the cause. What do you feel about this?
I am sure he has every right intention. But my life is one of spirituality. Tibetans are known for their spirituality and compassion howsoever mundane these may be, howsoever limited. Because of our following Buddhism, we have come this far in understanding and peace. At the moment, the general awareness of self-immolations is very strong. My voice might be just one raised against this. As a fellow Tibetan, it is my duty to offer my thoughts and perspective on this.
You have been in India for a long time, what has been your experience?
I have enjoyed wonderful hospitality here. I have the freedom to practice my spirituality which is for me the greatest freedom.
Do you think the new dispensation in China will change things for the better in Tibet or not?
I have very little knowledge or interest in politics. I am a spiritual practitioner.
People treat you as a living god, how do you deal with this?
Life itself is impermanent, one may experience different ways of life. I try to follow my practice to the best of my ability, but yes, it is very challenging. When the mind gets heated, it is best to apply spiritual practices.
Has there been a conflict of interest between you and the other Karmapa?
There have been issues, but my primary concern at the moment is self-immolation. I cannot picture any life besides spirituality.
You were only one and half years old when you declared that you were the Karmapa. Do you have any recollections of that time?
I have recollections, yes. It is a part of our spirituality. We have memories of rebirths, reincarnations. Through meditation, one can recall past lives. Unfortunately, we are sometimes too busy to meditate and remember past lives.
Do you ever have doubts about your mission, yourself?
Yes, there are doubts, anxieties, fears, it is all part of this world. We cannot give in to doubt, if we do then we may take drastic steps. It is important to focus as much as possible on the positive to balance oneself.
Is Buddhism according to you a religion or a philosophy?
There are many different perspectives. There is a ritualistic aspect to Buddhism. But it is also a way of life. We need to bring about an understanding of the meaning of one’s life, what benefit one can bring about. We need to simplify things, focus on what is important. We must know our priorities, we must help others and keep our mind and body away from disturbing actions and emotions.

You have spoken about the three poisons, greed, ignorance and anger. How do you overcome these?
Through spirituality. Through meditation. One sees things clearer this way. Like still water, without ripples, without bubbles. We need to be calm to analyse things. It is important to understand ethics. We need to apply this when it comes to issues like self-immolation.

Does the belief in reincarnation reduce the fear of death?
This is a temporary solution. We have to reach a state of consciousness where we know no fear. We should have no fear whether or not there is a rebirth. If it helps to believe in rebirth to reduce fear, it is fine. We have to believe however that we will reach that state of no fear at all.

What is your message today to the Chinese, Indians, Tibetans?
We have to have kind thoughts and positive actions. We have to continue on the path of virtue.
Do you think Tibet will ever be free?
It depends on how we apply our spiritual inheritance, we need to adopt kind means, not drastic means.
 
What do you do in your spare time?
I don’t have much spare time. But I try to keep up with entertainment and the news so I can connect better with my fellow spiritual practitioners.

View the original article here

China: Legal action underway against self-immolations

Home Asia Pacific North Asia China

Beijing, China -- In order to combat the growing number of self-immolations in Tibetan communities across China, the country’s top court and public security authorities have now issued a directive that allows for criminal charges, including intentional homicide, to be filed against people who organize, plot or incite others to commit such suicidal acts.

CCTV reporter Li Qiuyuan spoke with one legal expert based in Beijing to find out more about the legal actions against self-immolations.

Tibetan Buddhism has long been known for its love and respect for life, but the recent series of self-immolations in Tibetan communities tells a different story.

Lorang Konchok, a 40-year-old monk and his nephew from an ethnic Tibetan area in southwest China’s Sichuan province, were arrested for encouraging eight people to set themselves on fire, three of whom died.

Police reported the two have confessed to encouraging and publicizing the protests under orders from their exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and his followers.

Dr. Liu Renwen, a legal expert on criminal law, says they could be charged with "intentional homicide", and face 10 years plus in prison.

Liu Renwen, Director of Department of Criminal Law, CASS, said,“China’s supreme court, top prosecution body and police have jointly issued the legal opinion, stating that organising, directing, and plotting as well as actively participating in inciting others to carry out self-immolations, is a criminal act that intentionally deprives another of his or her life. And people who commit such acts should be held liable for "intentional homicide" according to Article 232 of Criminal Law of People’s Republic of China. And self-immolators who intend to harm others, according to Article 114 of Criminal Law, should be held liable for "endangering public security"."

Self-immolations have never occurred in Tibetan history until 2009. Many Tibetan scholars believe the extreme act was deliberately introduced to Tibet from foreign countries with political motives.
Police reported most of those who undertook self-immolations were young people- those in their teens or early twenties.

"I agree with the government’s legal opinion of taking tougher measures against self-immolations. I believe that most Tibetan people will also agree with this legal opinion because any increase in self-immolation cases will only do this region harm.” Liu said.
Dr. Liu hopes the new directive will help bring down the tragic and violent practise.

Further details regarding the legal process can be expected when the case of plotting self-immolations goes to court.

View the original article here

On self-immolations in Tibet

Home Opinion

DHARAMSALA, India --  I've just returned from the Special International Meeting of Friends of Tibet in Dharamsala and the number of self-immolations had been spiking up in November.

<< This image from video footage released by Students For A Free Tibet via APTN purports to show Buddhist nun Palden Choetso engulfed in flames in her self-immolation protest against Chinese rule on a street in Tawu, Tibetan Ganzi prefecture, in China’s Sichuan Province Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011.

Around the 18th Congress of Chinese Communist Party, there were about 78 self-immolations.  Approximately half have been committed by lay people, half by monks/nuns. The activities are not coordinated by any organization within Tibet and are not directed by Tibetan leadership outside Tibet. This voluntary, self-determined form of activist resistance is in line with the "lhakar" movement.

A few words about Lhakar. First, Lhakar means "white Wednesday," as Wednesday is associated with HH Dalai Lama. Activists choose ways to resist, meaning to assert Tibetan identity in the face of its repression. One fits the resistance to the practicalities of the
situation - i.e., how to do it without getting arrested/tortured. This might include wearing traditional dress (chupa) or a kata (white scarf), or it might involve speaking Tibetan in situations where Chinese is being forwarded in ways meant to displace Tibetan language/culture (e.g., educational contexts). 

The same kind of repression has happened many times in the world, e.g., punishments for speaking Gaelic in Ireland under British rule and punishments for speaking Okinawan dialect (Hogen) in Okinawa/Ryukyu/Uchina under Chinese rule.  Lhakar is always peaceful, voluntary, and motivated by the wish to preserve Tibetan culture.

No one who speaks about self-immolation directly has spoken in favor of it, to my knowledge.  The Prime Minister (PM) of the CTA (Central Tibetan Administration, or govt in exile), Lobsang Sangay, is a Harvard-educated PhD who did his comparative research on govts in exile.  He insists that CTA is not even encouraging PROTEST in Tibet, since anything like that will result in political imprisonment and probably torture.  There is, therefore, no lawful way to express "civil disobedience" whatsoever. Furthermore, the world has more or less lost interest in the Tibetan plight, relative, say, to the "angry monk syndrome" protests of 2008, around the Chinese Olympics.  Tibetan soft power is running against the wall of Chinese financial leverage (Confucius Institutes, etc), which, Joseph Nye explained to Lobsang Sangay, is not the same thing at all as "soft power." Soft power is the invitation to respond as one will without manipulation or power-politics determination.

One might respond:  "Okay, the Tibetans are not encouraging self-immolation, but neither are they condemning it."  Prof. Stephen Prothero has written in the CNN Blog that the Dalai Lama has "blood on his hands" for not condemning self-immolation absolutely.  I asked prominent Tibetan intellectuals what they made of this.  Geshe Lhakdor, director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, finds it a "precious" response.  His feeling is that some people who have no understanding of the degree of repression of Tibetans as a whole condemn the violence of self-immolation without understanding the courageous willingness to take pain on oneself in order to call attention to the issue in ways that will reduce the suffering of others.

Dr Lobsang Sangay, in his address to the Special International Meeting, said that his government did not wish Tibetans to self-immolate or even protest, but, given the fact of such actions, they felt it would be unconscionable to condemn such selfless self-sacrifice. Going further, he said it was a "sacred duty" to understand such actions properly in terms of the real causes, e.g., the rampant repression of Chinese culture.

Extrapolating just a bit, one could say that the most constructive way to be against self-immolation, since we can't even communicate directly in closed Chinese Tibet with potential self-immolators, would be to do everything we possibly can to call attention to the conditions that lead people citizens with husbands/wives and children, as well as monks and nuns, many of them quite young - to self immolate.  Calling attention to these conditions does not mean hating Chinese people that was emphasized several times but, rather, doing everything possible to encourage China to come to a constructive form
of engagement.

There have been ideological attempts in the Chinese media to discredit self-immolaters, e.g., by saying they are depressed or otherwise mentally disturbed people.  Tibetan spokespersons have been attempting to publish information of the suicide notes and biographical particulars of the self-sacrificers in order to counter these claims.

One non-Tibetan, a British monk, has self-immolated. I don't know why he's not listed on the International Campaign page. Some Tibetans in Dharamsala were worried that his motivations were not proper. It was believed that he died alone in his room, but this link from the Daily Mail says that he immolated himself in the monastery garden.

Lobsang Sangay (PM), Tempa Tsering, and Chimme Rinzin (sect. to HHDL) all insist that we must acknowledge than any self-immolater could have run into a Chinese shop or otherwise have hurt a Chinese person if the wish was to do violence against another person.  HH Dalai Lama, in his address on 17 November to the Special International Meeting (Nov 16-18, Tibetan Children's Village, Dharamsala, HP) acknowledge that there was an element of violence to self-immolation, but he said we must acknowledge the context: there is no other way for these Tibetans to call attention to their plight, and they are specifically tailoring their actions in such a way that they do not burn other people.

We should recall that there was plenty of ambiguity about monks protesting in 2008.  The question, "Is angry-looking a protest?"  looks quite anachronistic now.  We might ask, was it self-violence for Martin Luther King's satyagraha activists to sit at all-white restaurant counters, knowing that their actions would lead to abusive and even violent behavior?  That response would be, as Geshe Lhakdor has said, "precious." Oh, look at me: I'm SO committed to non-violence. Let's go have a latte and talk about how ambivalent we are about this matter.

When I gave talks at Central University of Tibetan Studies in Varanasi (March 2012), the Q&A session turned to self-immolation no matter what the topic was.  After a talk on Khyentse Norbu's THE CUP students wanted to ask whether I thought self-immolation was Buddhist.  I can't really say it is.  I discouraged self-immolation as much as I possibly could - one of those passionate students might very well be sitting on the fence.  That said, it's a bit stomach-turning, to me personally, to turn around after a self-immolation and say "That person did a bad thing."  One wouldn't wish death-by-fire on one's worst enemy, but it
could be seen as interpretive violence to construe this act as "violence" when we cannot imagine a better response than passively allowing the systematic destruction of one's culture. 

Anyone who does not understand that China is systematically destroying Tibetan culture is not paying attention. Repression of language, ideological conditioning in the schools, displacement of nomadic peoples, torture and disappearance of activists or even mild resistors, mass colonization through the influx of ethnic Chinese into the region, and billion-dollar investments in railroads and theme parks intended to condition tourist understanding of Tibet - if this is not the systematic destruction of a culture, what would be?

No one I have spoken to is "for" self-immolation. It is really a question of how to end it.  Tibetans-in-exile will insist that the answer has to include the amelioration of oppressive conditions for Tibetans in Tibet.  The best way to be "against self-immolation" would be to find ways to help that happen.

For information via wikipedia on self-immolation,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation

The wiki on Tibetan self-immolation is not up-to-date and does not
reflect the dramatic spike in the last month:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_protests_by_Tibetans_in_China

Complete list available from International Campaign for Tibet:
http://www.savetibet.org/resource-center/maps-data-fact-sheets/self-immolation-fact-sheet

----------
John Whalen-Bridge is Associate Professor at the Department of English Language & Literature, National University Of Singapore. He is currently co-editing a series of books for SUNY Press with Gary Storhoff called "Buddhism and American Culture.

View the original article here

Kyabje Kirti Rinpoche hits out over Tibetan self-immolations

Home Issues

Revered Tibetan monk says the Chinese government can put an end to the self-immolations by removing troops in Tibet, stopping the re-education sessions and changing its hardline policies

Dharmsala, India -- The exiled chief abbot of a Tibetan monastery at the centre of a wave of self-immolations this year says China's repressive policies are behind the unprecedented protests.

<< Kyabje Kirti Rinpoche said unless China tackled root problems, the immolations would continue

Kyabje Kirti Rinpoche, 70, said Beijing had responded to the immolations with tougher repression of Tibetan monks.

But he said the authorities could put an end to the protests "overnight" if they changed their approach.

The abbot, who lives in India, is spiritual leader of Kirti monastery.

It has thousands of followers in Aba prefecture in Sichuan in western China.

Kirti Rinpoche fled into exile in 1959, but said he had received information about the situation at the monastery through underground channels.

"Chinese government policies are the cause of the immolations," he said at a news conference in New York organised by the campaign group Human Rights in China.

Specifically he blamed "the drastic nature of the repression that the Chinese government has been waging all over Tibet", saying "the level of repression is similar to all of Tibet being under virtual martial law".

'Re-education'

The wave of immolations has been unprecedented - Tibetan Buddhists have not protested in this way in the past.

But since March, 11 Tibetans have set fire to themselves, at least six have died, the fate of the other five, who were all taken away by Chinese authorities, is unknown.

The first immolation at Kirti was by a 20-year-old monk, Phuntsog. China responded to that immolation, Kirti Rinpoche said, by stepping up its repression. Three-hundred monks were taken away, he said, and what has happened to them is not clear.

Hundreds of government officials were also brought in to the monastery, he claimed. They had divided the remaining monks into 55 small groups to be re-educated, and installed surveillance cameras in the monastery.

The monks, Kirti Rinpoche said, had had a "patriotic re-education campaign imposed on them almost round the clock, random searches of monks' quarters, these are the reasons that have been driving the repression to a point where the Tibetans find it unbearable".

The abbot described it as "nothing short of imprisonment", saying: "Tibetans have really reached their breaking point."

"At this point every monk in Kirti monastery has been living in a state of terror."

'Desperation'

Foreign reporters have been banned from Tibetan areas this year so it has not been possible for outside observers to travel to the region themselves.

China's government has claimed that Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, instigated the immolations, describing them as a form of terrorism, and contrary to Tibetan Buddhist traditions. It has criticised the Dalai Lama for not condemning the immolations.

But Kirti's abbot said Tibetan people make their own choices.

"We do not have the moral authority to tell them what to do or not to do. The monks have been pushed to this great desperation and they are finding they can only express their resistance to Chinese rule by setting themselves on fire," he said.

"By removing the troops, and stopping the re-education sessions and changing its hardline policies, the Chinese government can put an end to the self-immolations overnight."

"So long as the cause is there, the result will continue to unfold."

View the original article here

China-based monk says self-immolations harm Buddhism

BEIJING (Reuters) - A wave of self-immolations by Tibetan Buddhist monks at a monastery in southwest China is a form of extremism that degrades the religion, state media reported a senior monk at a Beijing-backed organisation saying on Monday.

Eight young men in ethnically Tibetan parts of Sichuan province have set themselves on fire since March in opposition to religious controls by Beijing, which labels their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, a violent separatist.

"The recent chain of self-immolation attempts by monks has triggered public bewilderment and repulsion, causing the public to gradually lose faith," said Gyalton, vice president of the Sichuan Provincial Buddhist Association, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

"Tibetan Buddhism stresses benevolence and caring, and is a complete system of faith and sublime values as a result of its opposition to blind superstition," said the monk, who Xinhua called a Living Buddha.

Gyalton said suicide for any reason is against human nature and deviates from the tenets of Buddhism.

China last week criticised the Dalai Lama for not denouncing the spate of self-immolations, calling his stance a violation of Buddhist principles.

The latest man to set himself on fire on Saturday was a 19-year-old former monk at the Kirti monastery in Aba prefecture in Sichuan province, an exiled Tibetan activist and the London-based Free Tibet group said.

Police extinguished the flames and beat the man, the activist said, adding that he did not die in the course of his protest but that his whereabouts were unknown.

China in August jailed three monks for their involvement in the March self-immolation by another monk named Phuntsog, which spurred a crackdown and the month-long detention of about 300 Tibetan monks.

At least three of the eight monks who have set themselves on fire are believed to have died.

China has controlled Tibet since Communist troops marched in 1950. It says its rule has bought much needed development to a poor and backward region.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama denies being a separatist and says he wants autonomy and not independence for Tibet.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

View the original article here

In China, self-immolations add radical bent to Tibetan protests

Home Asia Pacific North Asia China

Nine suicides by young Buddhists in Sichuan province have unnerved the Chinese government and given momentum to the Tibetan movement.

Beijing, China -- Shopkeepers peer out from storefronts festooned with traditional Tibetan prayer flags at platoons of armed police, some carrying an unusual addition to their riot regalia: fire extinguishers.

<< Tibetan people in New Delhi rally to express solidarity with Buddhists in Tibet. (Tsering Topgyal, Associated Press / October 23, 2011)

A string of self-immolations by young Buddhist monks in Sichuan province is unnerving the Chinese government and giving a new, more radical momentum to the Tibetan protest movement.

On Monday, the ninth young Tibetan — and the first woman — killed herself in the small town of Aba by self-immolation in a protest against Chinese rule. She was identified by Tibetan exile groups as 20-year-old Tenzin Wangmo, a Buddhist nun.

A 19-year-old monk had set himself on fire two days earlier in the same town, which is near the Kiriti monastery, one of the largest Tibetan centers in China and the center of the recent unrest. In both cases, the monks shouted slogans calling for freedom of religion and the return of the exiled Dalai Lama to Tibet.

The self-immolations have set off a cycle of martyrdom and protest, inspiring demonstrations from New Delhi to Taipei. Tibetan blogs have filled with poems to the dead. The Dalai Lama, who lives in Dharamsala, India, led a day of prayer and fasting Wednesday.

In a panic, Chinese authorities have blanketed Aba with heavy security. Rare footage taken last week by Agence France-Press showed the streets brimming with riot police.

Tibet analysts say China's heavy hand is unlikely to stop the wave of immolations.

"There is a copycat dimension to this," said Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at the University of Westminster in London. "'If I immolate myself, my friends are under pressure to do the same to show they are just as patriotic.'"

The ritual suicides, he added, are a sign that young Tibetans are moving away from the Dalai Lama's teachings about nonviolence.

"He has always said that people should not harm themselves or others," Anand said. "People respect him, but they are frustrated and they want to protest."

Tibetan activists see parallels with the aggrieved Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself on fire last December to protest corruption, setting into motion the "Arab Spring" protests that have dislodged leaders in three countries.

"The self-immolations of the eight young monks were revolutionary acts of ultimate sacrifice to rouse the Tibetan people to action, in much the way as Mohammad Bouazizi's self-immolation woke up the oppressed people of the Middle East from many, many decades of fear, apathy, cynicism and weariness," Jamyang Norbu, a prominent Tibetan radical, wrote on his blog this month.

Among Tibetan Buddhists, self-immolation had been unheard of before 2009 and until this year was very rare.

Relations between Tibetan and Chinese authorities in Sichuan province, which abuts the Tibet Autonomous Region, had been relatively calm until a few years ago. Tibet experts say the change came about because of attempts by the authorities in Beijing to intervene in religious affairs, forcing monks to attend "patriotic education" classes where they study communism and renounce the Dalai Lama.

In response to protests in the monasteries, authorities have at times cut off water and electricity and installed police booths inside the monasteries, said Robert Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University.

"These provocative police tactics have been counterproductive," Barnett said.

Of the monks who have set themselves on fire, all are believed to have been under 24. Several were related. Some had been kicked out of monasteries by Chinese authorities for participating in protests, experts say.

"They are not trained to do anything but to be monks or nuns," Anand said. "If they don't give them any jobs or hope, they are radicalizing them unconsciously."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Thursday that authorities were maintaining "normal social order" in Sichuan.

"China firmly opposes ethnic separatism, will resolutely protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and firmly oppose any country using the excuse of the so-called Tibet problem to interfere in China's internal affairs," Jiang said at a briefing in Beijing.

View the original article here