Saturday, April 5, 2008

Free Tibet

In August of 1987, when I returned to Kathmandu after three and a half weeks in Tibet, I stopped by a small shop where I had met and enjoyed conversations with Tashi, an exiled young Tibetan man, who ran his own business where he sold handmade backpacks and duffel bags (all made out of brightly colored Nepali fabric). I wanted to know where I could get a Tibetan flag embroidered on my day pack as I still marvelled at the fact that the small pack had held all I needed during my time in Tibet, and I was still so high on the experience of actually visiting the magical kingdom and walking through the Potala in Lhasa (among many other amazing adventures) that I was eager to place a reminder of the journey on my pack. Tashi, whose English was impressive, understood my wish immediately and rather than refer me to another shop down the street, he insisted on taking my day pack and having the embroidery done for me. I assured him I would pay whatever the cost and left my pack with him, thinking it would take a few days to have the flag put on my pack. The next morning as I was passing Tashi's shop, he called to me and motioned me inside. He then displayed my well-worn pack with a large Tibetan flag embroidered across the top of it. I tried to pay him for the work, but he would accept no money. It was a gift he explained from the Tibetan people for the time and interest I had demonstrated by visiting their country. I hugged Tashi, smiled and bowed in the way I had learned in his homeland. I still have that old day pack, although the embroidery is now threadbare and the flag has lost most of its luster, but I will never forget the careful explanation of the meaning of the symbols on the Tibetan flag that Tashi provided when he gave me back my pack.

That trip has been on my mind lately as I read about reports of protests and ongoing oppression and abuse by the Chinese in Tibet. My experience in Tibet taught me that if a religion or belief can be judged by how it is manifested in those who believe or practice that faith (and really, how else can a belief-system be judged?) then the faith of Tibetan Buddhism is far and away the most peaceful, beautiful and blissful belief on the planet. Every Tibetan I met, without exception, was kind and welcoming, willing to share what little she/he had with me, ready to laugh or at least smile in appreciation of my feeble attempts to speak a phrase or two of their language. The course I had taken at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal before I headed to Tibet had given me a very rudimentary understanding of the practices of Tibetan Buddhism, but I was thankful for the crash course that allowed me to fall in line with other pilgrims on their way to the next monastery or temple, share their food (tsampa - barley flour mixed with tea or chang - a fermented barley beverage: very sour, but oddly thirst-quenching), and hang prayer flags along the way.

I remember sharing the disdain that the Tibetans felt for the Chinese and agreeing with their view that the Chinese had no place in the sovereign country of Tibet. I also remember the faces of the monks and nuns who had been disfigured by the brutal Chinese. The Chinese are definitely an occupying force and as such rule the country as the unwelcome bullies that they are. I chose to stay in Tibetan Guest Houses rather than the sterile concrete Chinese "hotels" in locked compounds that those who were on Chinese guided tours were forced to patronize.

My heart weeps for oppressed people all around the world, but I have a very soft spot in my soul for the Tibetan people who by no act of their own, rather by a fluke of geography, have come to be occupied by a tyrannical government that would sooner see them all dead or converted to good Chinese as it would negotiate with their leader (His High Holiness the Dalai Lama) over some measure of autonomy for a proud indigenous people who deserve to manage their own affairs and run their own sovereign country.

For more on my trip to Tibet, please visit an older post: His High Holiness the Dalai Lama

Here are a few good links that provide more information on how you can support the people of Tibet:
International Campaign for Tibet
Tibet Online
Free Tibet

Reporters without Borders on Boycotting the Beijing Olympics 2008
10 Reasons to Boycott the Beijing Olympics

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Intelligence vs. Smarts

Watching Chris "Fair Enough" Matthews interview Senator Barack Obama last night at West Chester University I was struck by how very intelligent Obama is. He radiates a thoughtfulness and articulates those thoughts with such seeming ease that I truly began to imagine an intelligent leader in the White House as opposed to the bumbling idiot that we have all suffered through for the last seven and a half years. What a joy it will be to send our president out in the world knowing that he can string together words in a coherent fashion and speak intelligently and eloquently to other world leaders without bracing for the inevitable faux pas, misspeak or bungled phrase.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Senator Hillary Clinton isn't a smart woman. She is obviously smart in the ways of politics, yet there is a devious quality to her intelligence that leaves me less impressed and more skeptical of her motives. Why did she insist on saying over and over again that she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire when it was just a matter of time until the video surfaced that disproved her story and made her look foolish? Why does she surround herself with political operatives who have consistently given her bad advice? These questions worry me and they do factor into my decision as to whom I will select as the commander-in-chief.

This just confirms to me that the most important criterion for selecting the next president should be intelligence. Bill Clinton had it in spades and that was obvious. Barack Obama has a great and abundant, cool and collected mind and that is impressive, and I believe it should matter more than all the other criteria that we consider when choosing a leader who will face such daunting challenges, disasters, corruption and downright messes that will be the legacy of the current administration. More fuel for Barack's fire, I'm ready to be called an Obamaniac, I've made up my mind and I hope that the outcome is as I want it to be. Obama rocks :D

Watch Barack Obama on Hardball/MSNBC.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Happy April Fools Day!

Today's True April Fool

Steph read this at the top of hour two today (April 1, 2008):

Well. well, well, Stephanie Miller and the Mooks,
You all have worked my last nerve, Momma with her incessant Hillary-hating, Jim who just won't stop imitating all the people I revere, and Christopher with his adolescent guffawing - I'm done, I tell you, fini, the end. I plan to cancel my StephCast, get back to work, no more live streaming, no more live blogging, no more guess the quotes, no more nada... and I'll be damned if I'll ever call Rebekah again - harumph!
APRIL FOOLS!!!
I love you all more than words can say - keep up the fabulous work :D
Cheers,
mfaye