TIBET

Hi.
Man, there is so much going on, and so many things to blog, and talk and think about, I sometimes don't know WHAT to do. The other day I posted a short video on net neutrality. Barack Obama during his campaign promised to keep the internet open and neutral. Let's hope he delivers.
Today though, I'm going to hear a lecture about Chinese poetry. It's part of the Montreal Zen Poetry Festival, which started last night. As a big fan of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and poetry of all kinds, I definitely have to go and
alight upon the tree leaf,
forgetting
that I am.
However, there is a bit of a bleak, bittersweet irony here, in that it happens to be Chinese zen poetry, (or "Chan", the chinese word for "Zen"), when a great injustice is turning 50 years old on Tuesday.
Tuesday, March 10th, 1959, was the day of the Tibetan Uprising.
The Chinese had invaded Tibet nine years before, in 1950.
The Chinese Government, at the time under Mao, has always maintained that it was/is a peaceful liberation of Tibet, that China is sovereign over Tibet, and that it should be integrated into the People's Republic of China, and that it's trying to help the people of Tibet escape a feudal, serfdom system. However, it is well known and well documented that this is untrue. It is also well-documented that the Chinese government-controlled media is constantly distorting the truth to create propoganda, and quell anyone who tries to question authority or the truth in the Government's statements.
FOR EXAMPLE:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7920656.stm

(I don't know why, but for some reason this isn't letting me post links!)

That news report is a counter to the reports about a group of monks being surrounded in their monastery by armed PRC forces.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iiYHLvUW5tUiEUyjIZtO7gQTppeQ

This time of year is always tense in Tibet. The Dalai Lama is one of my heroes; he was 15 when the Chinese invaded his country, and he was prematurely enthroned as the Dalai Lama, the political and spiritual leader of Tibet. The Tibetan Resistance Movement was working hard, and 1959 became the year of the Uprising. The Dalai Lama was invited to a performance at Chinese Military Headquarters outside of Lhasa (before the invasion, Lhasa was the Forbidden City, the capital of Tibet and its holiest centre).
then, on March 9, the head of the Dalai Lama's bodyguard was visited by Chinese army officers. The officers insisted that the Dalai Lama would not be accompanied by his traditional armed escort to the performance, and that no public ceremony for the Dalai Lama's procession from the palace to the camp should take place, counter to tradition.
At the time fears of the Chinese trying to abduct the Dalai Lama were already high.
On March 10, 300,000 Tibetans gathered around the temple, trying to protect him. That became the beginning of the Uprising, as it became a public demonstration of the Tibetan Resistance Movement, which had been using guerilla warfare tactics before that.
The Uprising and the Resistance Movement were crushed, The Dalai Lama was forced to leave his country and had to sneak into India to live in exile.
Thousands, if not over a million Tibetans have died throughout the history of this conflict.
On March 10th, every year, there's always something that happens. Last year there were violent riots on the anniversary of the Uprising.
Tensions are high enough, it being the 50th anniversary, and word of monks demonstrating seems to have stopped for the last few days. The local people aren't speaking with Western reporters for fear of reprisal from the Chinese troops. After China denied that anything had happened, they released this Nugget:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7918713.stm

Now we have no idea what the situation is for those brave monks. And now who knows what will go down on Tuesday? Weirdly, 50 years ago, March 10th, the day of the rebellion, was also on a Tuesday. I know that I will be meditating and praying for peace and justice for Tibet.