His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Thank You India Address
Published: Thursday, 2 April, 2009
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Tibet is the
snowy-land located beyond the Himalayan ranges to the north of India-
the Land of Aryas. Buddha Shakyamuni blessed this land and prophesied
the spread of the Buddhadharma there. Mount Kailash and Lake Manasrovar
are located there, both of which are considered sacred by India's major
religious traditions. Tibet is the source of the four great rivers that
flow into India and finally reach the great oceans. Geographically, it
is like the Indian highlands, which many great Indian masters have
referred to as the Heaven of Thirty-three, (Trayastrimshadeva).
Regarding the date at which the Tibetan race first came about,
archaeological findings suggest it was at least ten thousand years ago.
The Bon scriptures concur. According to the Bengali scholar Prajna
Varma, Tibetans are descendants of Rupati, king of a south Indian
kingdom, who escaped to Tibet with his subjects after the Mahabharata
War. As for the King of Tibet, it is believed that around 150 BCE, a
prince of Magadha escaped to Tibet after being exiled from his kingdom.
Tibetans named him Nya-tri Tsenpo and made him their king. Thus began
the Tibetan royal lineage. Whether we consider our geography, ancestry,
or our royal dynasty, India and Tibet have long had close ties with
each other.
In the 7th and
8th centuries, Tibetan students were sent to India to study. Once they
had completed their education, these young Tibetans, such as Thonmi
Sambhota, created a Tibetan alphabet on the basis of the Nagari script
that improved on the Shangshung Maryig, an earlier Tibetan mode of
writing, and a Tibetan grammar based on Sanskrit. This not only
contributed to the development of Tibetan civilization, but also
allowed for the dissemination of the Buddhadharma in Tibet. In the 8th
century, Shantarakshita, a Bengali prince turned monk and illustrious
scholar from Nalanda University, visited Tibet and founded the monastic
order there. Guru Padmasambhava from the west of India was responsible
for the spread of Tantric Buddhism. Shantarakshita's student
Kamalashila also visited Tibet to uphold Buddhism.
It
is through the kindness of these masters who established Buddhism in
Tibet that numerous teachings of the Buddha such as those concerning
the three vehicles and the four classes of tantra, which make up the
content of the Three Baskets or Tripitaka, were translated into
Tibetan. Besideds these, numerous works of the great Indian
commentators, such as the seventeen Nalanda masters, Arya Nagarjuna and
Arya Asanga among them, were also translated into Tibetan. This helped
establish in Tibet the complete and pure tradition of Buddhism that had
been fostered in the great Indian Universities at Taxila, Nalanda,
Vikramashila, Odantapuri. Also, because Tibetan scholars constantly
referred to the Indian sources and did not corrupt them with their own
ideas and concepts, today it is Tibetans who have been able to preserve
the complete and pure Indian Buddhist tradition, which declined in
India.
To begin with,
Tibetan scholars, such as the translator Thonmi Sambhota (7th century
CE), translated many texts like the twenty-one tantras of
Avalokiteshvara, the Dharani of the Crown of Precious Collection, and
the Hundred Thousand Verse Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. According to the
History of the Rise of the Dharma by Buton Rinchen Drub (1290-1364),
from the time of the translator trio Kawa Peltseg, Chogro Lui Gyaltsen,
Shang Yeshe De in the 8th century until the translator Legpa'i Lodro in
the 14th century there were 192 Tibetan translators and 93 great Indian
masters who supervised and approved their work. Altogether there have
been about 700 translators.
From
the era of Acharya Shantarakshita and Surrendrabodhi, that is the late
8th to early 9th centuries until Acharya Belbhadra and his disciples in
the 17th century more than 300 volumes were translated into Tibetan
from other languages , such as Sanskrit, of which only 10 volumes were
translated from Chinese. Many volumes written in Indian languages such
as Sanskrit were translated into Tibetan, which now comprise the
Kangyur, the translated words of the Buddha and the Tengyur, the
translated commentaries of subsequent Indian masters. Today, it is we
Tibetans who preserve the complete and the pure Indian Buddhist
tradition, which declined in India. Regarding the translation of texts
from Indian languages, the greatest number is found in Tibetan and they
are considered the most accurate, I think this is because the creation
of the Tibetan written language followed a Sanskrit pattern.
Among
the many Indian masters who visited Tibet, despite the difficulties of
traveling at such high altitudes, in order to teach the Buddhadharma,
some of the most celebrated figures are Pandit Shakyashree, Pandit
Smritijanana and Dipamkara Atisha. There are also accounts of thousands
of Tibetans visiting India in those days to study Buddhism. Many of
them returned to Tibet after completing their studies, but some
remained in India. There were cased of Tibetan scholars renowned for
their scholarship like the translator Tsami Sangye Drak, who later
became abbot of the monastery at Bodhgaya. There were also instances of
Indian masters whoescaped to Tibet when their monasteries fell victim
to the Turkic invasions.
These
accounts reflect the indisputably strong ties that have linked Tibetans
and Indians in the fields of religion and culture. In a letter to me,
the late Morarji Desai stated, " India and Tibet are like two branches
of the same Bodhi tree". I entirely agree, which is why I
wholeheartedly describes Indians as our gurus, while we Tibetans are
chelas or students.
Following
the decline of Buddhism in India, spiritual and cultural ties and
social interaction with Tibet declined too. However, Tibetans continued
to go on pilgrimage to the sacred Buddhist sites in India and from the
Indian side pilgrims continued to visit Mount Kailash and Lake
Manasarovar freely, without a need for passports and visas, until 1959.
Trade between the two countries continued along the border from Ladakh
in the west to present day Arunachal Pradesh in the east. Tibet reached
agreements on important issues with the kingdoms on its borders. There
was also a tradition of sending donations for religious purposes to the
sacred places in the border areas. In the twentieth century, Mahapandit
Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963) visited Tibet three times and retrieved
many rare Sanskrit texts, which have contributed greatly to the revival
of interest in Buddhism in India.
Politically,
in 1904, Tibet signed an agreement with British-India. In 1910, the
13th Dalai Lama fled into exile in India. In 1913/14, the Simla treaty
was signed (between British India and Tibet), according to which the
two sides agreed to review their agreements every ten years.
Arrangements were made between Tibet and India to ensure security along
their trade routes. Postal services and telegraph lines were
established, and an Indian Mission was set up in Lhasa. In March 1947,
a few months before India gained independence, representatives of the
Tibetan government were invited to an Asian relations conference.
In
1956, Panchen Rinpoche and I, accompanied by other Tibetan lamas,
visited independent India when we were invited to attend the 2500th
Buddha Jayanti Celebrations. All the Tibetan pilgrims were kindly
granted half-fare when they made pilgrimage to the holy Buddhist sites
in India. I myself had the opportunity not only to make pilgrimage to
many of the Buddhist and non-Buddhist sacred sites here, but also saw
many industrial developments in India, which filled me with fresh
inspiration. I also had the chance to meet and receive advice from many
prominent Indian leaders. In particular, the then Prime Minister,
Pandit Nehru's affectionate guidance was of far-reaching benefit to
Tibetans.
That year,
instead of seeking asylum in India, I decided to return to Tibet.
Retrospectively, I am glad to see that this was the correct decision
from both a temporal and spiritual point of view. Not only was I able
to fulfil many of my spiritual obligations, such as sitting for my
final Geshe (doctoral) examinations, but I also left no stone unturned
in my efforts to deal with Chinese officials.
Although
the local Tibetan government and I made great efforts to ensure that
Tibetans and Chinese lived together peacefully on the basis of the
Seventeen Point Agreement, they were in vain. The Tibetan people were
left with no alternative but finally to launch a peaceful uprising on
10th March, 1959 to oppose Chinese brutality and the situation became
much more serious. I tried my best to calm the situation and avert a
harsh Chinese response, but failed. Consequently, accomplished by a
small party of Tibetan government officials inclduing some Kalons
(Cabinet Ministers), I fled to southern Tibet on 17th March. I tried
once again to establish contacts with the Chinese authorities from
there. However, the situation in Lhasa had worsened on the night of
19th March when Chinese troops resorted to extreme force and more than
twenty thousand innocent Tibetans were killed, injured and imprisoned
over a period of twenty-four hours. This left us helpless, with no
option but to escape to India. Finally, on 31st March, after many days
of hardship, we safely reached India and the light of freedom. As one
of the most significant days of my life, it also marked a turning point
in the history of the Tibetan people.
Because
of the Chinese military's harsh and relentless repression of the
Tibetan people and the turmoil that spread throughout Tibet, that same
year about one hundred thousand Tibetans fled through NEFA, (present
day Arunachal Pradesh) and Bhutan seeking refuge in India. The Indian
government was so generous as to have immediately set up refugee camps
for Tibetans at Misamari in Assam and Buxa Duar in Bengal. The generous
way in which the Indian government bestowed aid in the form of food,
clothing, blankets and medical facilties brought Tibetans tremendous
relief. In due course, monks and nuns were provided opportunities to
resume their spiritual studies, children were provided with education,
the elderly were provided with homes and suitable employment was found
for others. In short, because Tibetans' material needs were addressed,
we were able to dedicate ourselves to preserving our religion, culture
and our very Tibetan identity.
It
was due to particularly to Pandit Nehru's farsightedness and personal
concerns that we established Tibetan farming settlements, with the aim
that Tibetans could live together in communities without being
scattered here and there, and separate schools for Tibetan children
where modern education could be given in addition to instruction in our
own language, culture and religion. Over the last fifty years, more
than one hundred thousand Tibetan refugees have enjoyed social benefits
similar to those of their Indian hosts and we have now reached the
third generation. We are deeply grateful to the Indian Central and the
State governments, who, despite having to deal with their own problems,
have wholeheartedly and consistently supported and assisted Tibetans.
The friendship and sympathy the Indian people as a whole have shown
Tibetans has made us feel this is truly our second home, indeed,
wherever Tibetans have had skills and abilities of their own we have
been able to exercise them. Overall India has given us the greatest
moral and material support. Looking back over the past fifty years, we
feel confident that we made the right choice when we sought refuge in
India.
Regardless of their
own caste, religious or political affiliations, a wide variety of
Indians have formed Tibetan support groups such as Indo-Tibet
Friendship Society (ITFS), Bharat-Tibet Sahyok Manch and Friends of
Tibet. Innumerable Indian individuals have shown great sympathy for
Tibetans and have worked actively for the Tibetan cause and the welfare
of Tibetans in exile. This reflects the unique Indian tradition of the
guru showing concern for his chela. India's moral and material
generosity to us during this critical period when our very identity and
the civilization we derived from India is under severe threat of
extinction truly reflects the English proverb which says, A friend in
need is a friend indeed.
Considering
the differences between Indian and Tibetan langauge, habits and social
customs, our presence might initially have caused some unease and
anxiety. However, in general a genuine hamony and understanding exists
between us. This is a great source of strengthen and satisfaction. It
is also a reflection of India's valuable tradition of tolerance and
ahimsa. The number of Tibetan refugees is small compared to that of
other refugee communities in India and yet we have received the most
generous recognition and assistance from both the government and the
people.
In addition to
farming the small plots of land provided by the government of India,
Tibetans fo petty business during the winter months selling woollen
garments in the town and cities across India. This business is not only
an opportunity to earn a livelyhood, but is also an opportunity for us
to interact with the people of this country and improve our mutual
understanding. Although Tibetab refugees have by and large become
personally self-sufficient, we are still indebted to the government of
India for its dedicated support of many of our Tibetan schools and
other Tibetan cultural institutions.
On
a personal level, the freedom I enjoy in exile I owe to India. I am
able to practise Buddha Shakyamuni's teachings, on the basis of which I
try to make some contribution to the betterment of humanity. The
liberty I enjoy in India is truly reflected in the title of my
autobiography β Freedom in Exile. It is a great honour for me to
consider India my spiritual home and like a messanger I have tried to
promote the key Indian principles of ahimsa (non-violence) and karuna
(compassion) where ever I go.
As
a human being my main commitment is in the promotion of human values
such as warm-heartedness that are essential to a happy life. As a
religious practitioner, my second commitment is the promotion of
inter-religious harmony. My third commitment is of course the issue of
Tibet, due on the one hand to my being a Tibetan with the name of Dalai Lama but more importantly due to the trust that Tibetans both
inside and outside Tibet have placed in me. The welfare of Tibetans is
my daily concern and I consider myself only as someone free to speak on
behalf of those Tibetans oppressed by years of Chinese communist rule,
who do not enjoy such freedom.
Over
the last fifty years, I have received generous, affectionate and
personal encouragement on official and personal matters from numerous
leaders as well as social workers and intellectuals. They have shown me
trust and friendship and offered me valuable advice that I will always
cherish. I am ubable to name all of them now, but if I may mention just
a few, they include C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), Dr Rajendra Prasad,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Acharya Vinobha Bhave, Jayaprakash Narayan and
Acharya Kripalani.
The
support and assistance India has given Tibet for more than two thousand
years, but particularly over the last fifty years is incalculable.
Words are insufficient to repay the debt own we owe India. However, on
this occasion of the fiftieth year of our living in exile in this
country, to show how greatly indebted I feel, let me express my deep
gratitude to the people of India and their government through you, my
Indian friends who are personally here with us today.
Buddhism
spread to Tibet from India around fifteen hundred years ago. Although
it then declined in land of its birth, we were able to preserve it in
Tibet as well as helping others benefit from the teachings of the
Buddha. We feel we have gone some way towards repaying India's kindness.
We
shall be very happy if we are able to contribute to restoring India's
rich Buddhist heritage. In order to fulfil this dream, Pandit Nehru
established the Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, Central
Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh, Ladakh, and the Central University
of Tibetan Studies in Varanasi. In these places, initiatives have been
taken to translate important texts, whose originals once existed in
Indian languages but have since been lost, from Tibetan back into
Indian languages such as Sanskrit. This significant project has been
both successful and satisfying. As a token of Tibetan people's
willingness to restore to India the rich culture we have preserved so
far,I would like to tell you that we plan to offer the Indian nation,
complete sets of the Kangyur (Tibetan translations of the Buddha's
teachings), and Tengyur (Tibetan translations of commentaries by
subsequent Indian masters), as well as 63 titles restored from Tibetans
into Sanskrit and over 150 translated into Hindi and other languages.
On
behalf of all Tibetans, both those inside and those outside Tibet, I
fervently wish to express our profound gratitude by saying Thank You
over and over again to you, the people and government of India.
At
the same time, I would like to recall that our neighbours Bhutan and
Nepal share the same religion and culture and have long had close ties
with us. Both of these countries have also provided shelter to Tibetan
refugees. We are grateful to the people and the governments of these
two countries too. Indeed, we also would like to express our gratitude
to all the other countries in which Tibetans now live.
With my prayers for the happiness of all beings.
Dalai Lama
31st March, 2009
