Thekchen Chöling, Dharamshala, HP, India - More than 6000 people gathered at the Main Tibetan Temple today to express gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his kindness, beginning with his assumption of the spiritual and temporal leadership of Tibet on 17th November 1950 — 75 years ago today.
When His Holiness reached the gate to his residence he was welcomed by today’s Chief Guest, Dr Eliska Zigova, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India, President of the Central Tibetan Administration, Sikyong, Penpa Tsering, Parliamentary Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel and Chief Justice Commissioner Yeshi Wangmo, as well as Tashi Namgyal and representatives of the former students of several Tibetan schools who contributed to the organization of today’s event. They escorted him to his seat in the veranda below the temple. Tibetan performers sang and danced to greet him.
While bugles played, Sikyong Penpa Tsering raised the Tibetan flag. Artistes from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts then sang the Tibetan National Anthem followed by the Indian National Anthem to the accompaniment of pipes and drums. The Chief Justice Commissioner, Parliamentary Speaker and Sikyong offered His Holiness a mandala with representations of the body, speech and mind of the Buddha. This ritual was repeated by Tashi Namgyal and 24 representatives of former students of seven residential Central Schools for Tibetans (CST) in India, the Tibetan Children’s Village, Dharamshala, the Tibetan Homes Foundation, Mussoorie and Tibetan Day Schools in India and Nepal, who presented two beautiful statues of Avalokiteshvara Khasarpani to His Holiness.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering read the Statement of the Kashag marking today’s occasion, first in Tibetan then in English. He began by noting that this auspicious day marking the 75th anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s assumption of the spiritual and temporal leadership of Tibet is also being observed as part of the Year of Compassion celebrating His Holiness’s 90th year.
He recalled that a unified political empire first emerged in the Land of Snow during the time of the first Tibetan Emperor Nyatri Tsenpo in the third century BCE. During the reign of the Three Dharma Kings, the influence of the Tibetan empire extended far and wide across Asia. Under King Songtsen Gampo a Tibetan script was devised based on the Indian Gupta script. In due course, the pure Buddhist teachings of the Nalanda Tradition were brought to Tibet. In this period Tibet invaded the Chinese capital of Chang’an, presently Xi’an.
From the ninth century the Tibetan empire fragmented, but from the time of Drogön Chögyal until the establishment of the Gaden Phodrang a ‘priest-patron’ relationship existed with the Mongol, Ming and Manchu rulers of China.
In the early 20th century Amdo was invaded by the Muslim warlord Ma Bufang. Kham was invaded by the Manchu General Zhao Erfeng and Central Tibet was invaded by the British. After seizing power in China, the Kuomintang (the Chinese Nationalist Party) annexed parts of Amdo and Kham and repeatedly challenged Tibetan government forces on the border. Following the establishment of the communist People’s Republic of China in 1949 the People’s Liberation Army occupied parts of Amdo and Kham culminating in the capture of Chamdo and the defeat of the Tibetan army.
It was under these circumstances that the people of Tibet turned to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, beseeching him, although he was only 15 years old, to take responsibility for the leadership of Tibet. Thus, on 17th November 1950 he did so. For more than eight years he tried to negotiate with the Chinese, striving to protect Tibetan lives and preserve Tibet’s unique religious and cultural heritage, within the framework of the 17-point agreement that had been imposed on Tibetans. Sadly, in 1959, in the face of unrelenting PRC aggression, he was forced to go into exile in India.
On arrival in the holy land of India His Holiness repudiated the 17-point agreement, declaring it null and void. In the 1970s he proposed the Middle Way Approach to resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict. This is the policy the Central Tibetan Administration continues to follow.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering praised His Holiness as a great Bodhisattva as revealed in his untiring efforts to fulfil his Four Commitments — promoting human values, interreligious harmony, ancient Indian wisdom, and the preservation of Tibet’s ecology and culture. He declared: “On this happy occasion we offer heartfelt prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Great Fourteenth Dalai Lama and the continuation of his enlightened activities for aeons to come.”
In his statement on behalf of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel mentioned that His Holiness visited China in 1954 and met with Chinese leaders. In 1956 he came to India to take part in the 2500th Buddha Jayanti. Here he met Indian leaders and particularly appreciated what he saw of India’s vibrant system of democracy. Back in Tibet, in 1959, he took his Geshé Lharampa exam during the Great Prayer Festival. On 17th March 1959, as the situation in Lhasa became increasingly dangerous, he slipped out of the Norbulingka Palace and fled Lhasa.
In exile in India His Holiness worked urgently to recreate circumstances in which monks and nuns could resume their studies and lead a monastic way of life. He planned and set up schools where children could be educated in a way that combined a modern curriculum with Tibetan tradition. He also took steps to establish a Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. He entered into fruitful discussions with modern scientists about the nature of the mind and the achievement of inner peace.
In his early years in exile His Holiness appealed to the United Nations for help. Later, he sent fact-finding delegations into Tibet to appraise the situation there. Following his determination to resolve problems through dialogue, his representatives engaged in nine rounds of talks with Chinese authorities — to no avail. The Speaker appealed to the Chinese government to resolve the issue of Tibet during His Holiness’s lifetime. Finally, he too offered His Holiness heartfelt gratitude.
Tashi Namgyal, Chairman of the ex-Students Organizing Committee, spoke next referring to His Holiness’s deep concern for those Tibetans who had followed him into exile. He considered education to be of such importance that he encouraged the establishment of the first Tibetan school in exile in Mussoorie, providing support for it from his own funds. With the founding of Central Schools for Tibetans, Tibetan children learned their own language, history and religious traditions, while at the same time following a modern curriculum that included mathematics and so forth.
His Holiness encouraged his sister Tsering Dolma to set up the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala to look after the many Tibetan children who were orphans. His Holiness’s office provided funds for many schools that came up in Tibetan settlements. He would visit these schools himself to see how the children were getting on, showing them the kind of care usually expected from a parent.
To sum up, Tashi Namgyal remarked that Tibetan children achieved almost complete literacy and in due course grew up to become responsible and contributing members of the Tibetan community.
There followed a presentation to His Holiness of a Memento of Gratitude made of gold and silver depicting a pair of hands supporting an open book illuminated by a lamp of wisdom. Again, this was offered in profound gratitude for His Holiness’s boundless kindness.
A group of former students of the various Tibetan schools joyfully sang a song specially composed to express gratitude to His Holiness.
The Chief Guest, the Czech Ambassador to India, Dr Eliska Zigova addressed the gathering. “What is leadership?” she asked. “I think you’ll agree with me that we need good leadership. When we see how leadership is failing in several parts of the world, it makes this celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama assumption of the spiritual and temporal leadership of Tibet 75 years ago particularly significant.
“I was touched by the way former students expressed their gratitude to His Holiness. I was thinking too about how the young Dalai Lama shouldered responsibility for the nation and his people in such difficult circumstances, and then nearly nine years later had to leave Tibet. Thousands of Tibetans followed him. Concerned for their welfare, in 1960 His Holiness initiated the setting up of schools. We see here not only the alumni of those schools, but also the children who continue to study in them to this day.
“I visited the Tibetan Homes Foundation School in Mussoorie this April and I saw children not only being well educated but also well cared for. And what is amazing is that these children, the third generation in exile, speak fluent Tibetan. So, for the future of the Tibetan nation I pray for the long life of our spiritual leader — and I say our because he provides leadership for us all.
“As Czech Ambassador I would like to add one more thing. 17th November is an important date in the Czech calendar too. It was on this day in 1989 that the Velvet Revolution began. After 40 years communist rule was peacefully overthrown and Václav Havel became the first free Czechoslovak president.
“Our president invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Czechoslovakia because he felt his presence was important for his own leadership. The friendship between His Holiness and Václav Havel established a very important connection between Tibet and the Czech Republic. Wishing for peace, freedom and prosperity for all, I thank you very much”
Next, Dr Zigova was invited to launch a book, ‘Tibet’s History and the Legacy of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’ by Losang Jinpa Nampheltsang.
Kashag Secretary and Chairman of the Central Ghoton Organizing Committee Tsegyal Chukya Dranyi offered words of thanks. With folded hands he thanked His Holiness for gracing the occasion. He thanked the Chief Guest for her inspiring observations and the Sikyong and Speaker for their uplifting remarks. He thanked the guests and everyone in attendance for coming, especially the alumni of Tibetan schools in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Finally, he expressed appreciation to the members of the media and everyone who had helped behind the scenes.
His Holiness stood to leave and, smiling at well-wishers to the left and right, walked through the courtyard. At the gate to his residence, he boarded a golf-cart that would take him home. Meanwhile, in the courtyard behind him, celebrations continued as people sang and danced until it was time for lunch.
