Last year I trekked into the Moroccan Sahara desert on a very trusty camel named Aszu. In the evening, my guide, Jusef, a sixth grade educated Berber nomad, surprisingly fluent in six languages, fixed me a tantalizing chicken tangine. All that it lacked was a glass of wine, unfortunately verboten for Muslims just days before Ramadan. At night we slept under the incredible desert night skies. Never before had I seen so many stars, stretching from one horizon to the other – the stars so bright and numerous, it was difficult to make out the constellations. That was Morocco, a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, smells, and experiences. From Morocco I traveled on through much of Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China, and finally concluding my trip in Japan. This year's trip will take me to Romania, Ukraine, Georgia, Central Asia, India, Nepal, Southwest China, and Indochina. At times I hope to report back on my experiences and observations, perhaps posting a few pictures and videos that may be of interest. I've posted below a few pictures and videos from some past trips. For my blog on my travels through East Europe check out my blog at http://tallinntovarna.blogspot.com.

I’ve been asking myself lately, is there a theme to all this? Maybe not, but one thing I can say that piques my interest, is the dangerous nexus between religion and politics that engulfs the world today. In Morocco, where the King is both the head of Mosque and State, a Muslim, during Ramadan, can end up in jail for doing nothing more than drinking a glass of water under the scorching daytime heat – his crime, the thirsty Muslim broke the fast. Imams in Morocco claim that such an abhorrent act defies the teachings of God, infringes on the religious liberties of practicing Muslims, and is deserving of serious sanction. Of course, such a violation of an individual’s personal freedom could never happen in America. Or could it? As I write this, the U.S. Catholic Bishops are ferociously attacking President Obama’s Affordable Care Act for requiring institutions to provide birth control under their insurance policies. Like the Imams, the Bishops consider it not just an affront, but an existential threat, to their religious liberties. A poor woman, without the means to support a family, let alone a brutally raped woman, should not expect any sympathy from these Catholic institutions, as they, like their Muslim brothers, are scripturally bound to impose their beliefs on others. Does it matter that no one is telling Muslims that they cannot fast or Catholics that they cannot abstain from sex?

Now that I think of it, I’d like to dedicate this blog to Americans United, a terrific nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to preserving the principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom. Before I move on though, I’d like to share with you this political satire piece I wrote a few months ago when Senator Rick Santorum had a chance of being the Republican nominee. It pretty much sums up my take on what a large segment of the American population would like to see should their wildest dreams come true. Finally, I begin this blog with three postings from last year’s trip just to give you an idea of who I am and what you may or may not come to expect as I embark on this year's trip. If you have something nice to say, I'd love to hear from you.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Tibetan Buddhism

Original Panchen Lama
“As long as we follow some simple rules I can tell you about Tibet. First, we must not talk in public. Second, you may not reveal the source of your information. And third, when referring to the Delhi Lama, we should use the code HH, short for ‘His Holiness.’ Remember also that they monitor your emails and it’s not a good idea to search for related information over the Internet because they will then be able to track where you are. If we follow these simple rules, we shouldn’t get into trouble.” “Okay, I promise,” I say. And so my newly acquired Tibetan Buddhist friend begins.

“Contrary to what you find in the history books, before 1945, Tibet was never a part of China. Since the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet some 2000 years ago, Tibet has always been at peace. Even when Genghis Khan conquered this area, the Tibetans did not put up a fight. After the defeat of Japan, who had occupied parts of China, but never Tibet, China decided to take advantage of Tibet’s lack of a modern army and annex it. At the time Tibet had only 100 soldiers and couldn’t possibly put up any resistance. What China encountered, however, was a strong tradition of self-governance through Tibetan Buddhism where HH is both the spiritual and civil head of the state. We believe that HH is the fourteenth incarnation of the ‘Buddha of Compassion’ and that his word is the same as coming from the Buddha himself.

In addition to HH, we have another Lama who is the Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is also a reincarnation — but who he’s an incarnation of, I’m not sure. If you like, I can call my friend who knows these things and ask him.” “Yes let’s do that,” I say. He calls someone on his cell phone. They talk for fifteen minutes or so, and then returns, “Sorry, he says it’s too dangerous to talk about these things.” “What! — Too dangerous to talk about who the Panchen Lama is a reincarnation of?” “Yes, too dangerous.” He hesitates. “Ah… If you remember our rules though, I can tell you that our current Panchen Lama is the eleventh Panchen Lama and that we believe the Chinese government kidnapped him 22 years ago when the Panchen Lama was only six. The Chinese then set out to deceive us by creating another Panchen Lama and saying he is eleventh Panchen Lama. It’s his picture you see in the temples. Nobody knows what happened to the real Panchen Lama. He may be alive or dead. We don’t know! If the Panchen Lama is dead, the Lamas (the Tibetan Buddha high priests all of whom are in India) need to know where he is so that they can divine who the next Panchen Lama is. To complicate matters, HH is 75 and when he dies the Chinese government says they will determine who’s the next HH, and that runs counter to our beliefs. Because of this, most Tibetans believe that when HH dies, we will go to war with China. Young Tibetans certainly want this and believe the Indian government will provide us with arms to fight the Chinese. 

The Chinese should be concerned. Tibetan Buddhism is more than a religion. It is also the political force in Tibet. HH has said that he does not want independence and I believe him. He doesn’t want to see his people killed and he’s pragmatic enough to know that Tibet is no match for China. Instead he wants the “Middle Way” where Tibet has political and religious autonomy like Hong Kong and Shanghai but is still part of China. The Chinese government doesn’t want any of that and has tried to influence the situation in Tibet, by creating this bogus Panchen Lama, by falsely accusing the Tibetan Buddhists of instigating trouble, by offering incentives to Han Chinese to emigrate to Tibet, by carefully controlling what information goes in and out of Tibet, and finally by making it difficult for us to even talk about Tibet."


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