PRESS STATEMENT OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA ON LIU XIAOBO BEING AWARDED THE 2010 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE on the 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square
(Published: Friday, 8 October, 2010)


I would like to offer my heart-felt congratulations to Mr. Liu Xiaobo for being awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Awarding the Peace Prize to him is the international community’s recognition of the increasing voices among the Chinese people in pushing China towards political, legal and constitutional reforms.

I have been personally moved as well as encouraged by the efforts of hundreds of Chinese intellectuals and concerned citizens, including Mr. Liu Xiaobo in signing the Charter 08, which calls for democracy and freedom in China. I expressed my admiration in a public statement on 12 December 2008, two days after it was released and while I was on a visit to Poland. I believe in the years ahead, future generations of Chinese will be able to enjoy the fruits of the efforts that the current Chinese citizens are making towards responsible governance.

I believe that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent comments on freedom of speech being indispensable for any country and people’s wish for democracy and freedom being irresistible are a reflection of the growing yearning for a more open China. Such reforms can only lead to a harmonious, stable and prosperous China, which can contribute greatly to a more peaceful world.

I would like to take this opportunity to renew my call to the government of China to release Mr. Liu Xiaobo and other prisoners of conscience who have been imprisoned for exercising their freedom of expression.

THE DALAI LAMA (web)

China has sentenced a revered Tibetan living Buddha to eight-and-a-half years in jail on charges of illegally occupying government land and possession of weapons.

China has sentenced a revered Tibetan living Buddha to eight-and-a-half years in jail on charges of illegally occupying government land and possession of weapons.

The court in the western town of Kangding handed down the conviction more than eight months after Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche’s trial. It marked the first time a Tibetan arrested following last year’s riots had been allowed to select his own defence lawyers.

The monk was arrested on March 28 last year, four days after nuns from two religious houses over which he presides took to the streets in demonstrations shortly after deadly rioting erupted in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

A police search of the home of the living Buddha, who presides over several religious houses and runs an old people’s home, turned up an imitation pistol and 100 rounds of ammunition that police said could cause severe injury or even be fatal.

Local officials, unaware that his lawyers had a background in human rights, had told them when they arrived that the leaders had decided that the living Buddha must be jailed as an example to prevent other reincarnations from using their influence to stir up anti-Chinese unrest.


Read the entire article at the TimesOnline web site

..."my main aim is to provide education to the younger Tibetan people..."

During a press conference on Friday, the Dalai Lama said, "I am acting here like a free spokesman for Tibet and my main aim is to provide education to the younger Tibetan people."

"We are political refugees. We are carrying out certain duties on behalf of six million Tibetan people," he said.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since fleeing China in 1959.


This full story is available on the DailyIndia.com web site.
Photo uncredited, found on the internet

Thich Nhat Hanh in Hospital with Pneumonia

Thich Nhat Hanh in Hospital with Pneumonia
Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh is in Massachusetts General Hospital being treated for pneumonia.

Update: Brother Thay has fully recovered and resumed his scheduled.

Our brother and teacher, the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, is presently in Massachusetts General Hospital with an infection of pseudomonas aeruginosa (wiki), which is a serious but treatable pathogen. He had planned to lead a retreat during this time but will remain in the hospital for at least two weeks.

"Dear Friends and Co-practitioners at the Retreat One Buddha is not enough, Estes Park, CO.

My dear friends,
I am writing to you from the Massachusettes General Hospital in Boston. I know the Sangha has manifested today in Estes Park. I miss the Reterat. I miss the beautiful setting of the REtreat. Especially I miss the Sangha, I miss you. I always enjoy sitting with the Sangha, walking with the Sangha, breathing with the Sangha. The joy of being together, sharing the Dharma and the practice together is always very nourishing and healing...

But I do not suffer, because I know I am taking care of myself. And taking care of myself is to take care of you. The doctors here decided that I should stay 14 days here for the treatment of a lung infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Please do not worry. It is only an infection. But it has to be treated right away. My kidneys, my liver, my heart, my digestive tract all function well. I am given two strong anti-biotics, from I.V. injections per day. And the clinicians here are monitoring closely the process of treatment. I am allowed to go out of the hospital to the park nearby one hour per day to do walking meditation.

Written by hand, you can also read or download a PDF copy of this letter from Thay to his community.

Limited additional information is available at this time.

His Holiness considers a temporal and spiritual leader for Tibet

"The Dalai Lamas held temporal and spiritual leadership over the last 400-500 years. It may have been quite useful. But that period is over..."
- The Dalai Lama

In a speech that underscored the pressures he has had to bear during his life serving as both a spiritual and political leader, the Dalai Lama has said there is no need for his successor to perform the two roles.

"Today, it is clear to the whole world that democracy is the best system despite its minor negativities. That is why it is important that Tibetans also move with the larger world community."

In a video clip shown to hundreds of monks, nuns and lay people gathered in the mountain town of Dharamsala, the 73-year-old said it was essential that the Tibetan community in exile embraced democracy if it were to keep step with the wider world.

Robert Thurman, professor of Indo-Tibetan studies at Columbia University, said that while the Dalai Lama had managed to perform both a political and religious role, it was his belief that the Tibetan people would benefit from more secular education and taking more personal responsibility. "He thinks that democracy is the best way for this. He has dealt with Chinese autocracy for more than 60 years and he has seen what that has done," he said.

Despite the Dalai Lama's stated commitment to democracy, some observers believe a "regent" could be appointed to lead the freedom struggle in the form of Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who is the Karmapa, or spiritual head of the Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism and the third highest-ranking figure across the various schools. Whilst the 17th Karmapa could not inherit the title of Dalai Lama, he could act as a figurehead and help fill the void should the Dalai Lama fall ill or die. Such a move has been publicly discussed amid concerns last year about the Dalai Lama's health.

Earlier this year, the 23-year-old Karmapa, who was born and raised in Tibet but who escaped to India in 2000, told reporters: "His Holiness has been very successful in laying the foundations for the Tibetan struggle. He has done a great job. Now it is time for the next generation to build on this and carry it forward."



Read the entire article at the independent.co.uk web site
From a story by By Andrew Buncombe

• Related, and a very nice piece: Adapting to change: Dalai Lama suggests two people take his two roles