|
We
Tibetans have many terms of respect for His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Yeshe
Norbu, Gongsachog, Chenrezig, Gyalwa Rinpoche, Kundun... These are the
names we use when we speak amongst ourselves and these were also the names
I heard invoked many times when travelling around Tibet on my trips there
in 1994, 2004, 2007 and 2008.
Upon hearing that I was a Tibetan from inji-lungba (literally, the land of
English people), the first question would invariably be, have you ever seen
or met His Holiness? From Lithang in Kham to Labrang in Amdo through to
Lhasa in central Tibet, in all three traditional provinces of Tibet, it was
the same question over and over.
I almost felt bad to say that I had, on several occasions. I would never
dare to answer truthfully, that I had seen him more times than I could even
count. When I was little and growing up in Surrey, just outside of London,
a Tibetan audience with His Holiness meant a day off school and a day trip
to London, it was always exciting! In those days in the 1980s, there were
barely 100 Tibetans in the whole of the UK.
Later when I became a student in Beijing in 2006, I taught English as a
volunteer to Tibetan students and had been warned not to make the classes
"political" in any way. Imagine how I broke into a sweat when in
my first ever class, a young man from Amdo decided to use the
self-introduction round as a chance to speak in English about the situation
in his home village, describing in detail how Chinese settlers were coming
in in large numbers and the lack of religious freedom. One of my other
classes was on the topic of "holidays". When I asked the class,
where they'd like to travel to on holiday, one by one they all answered
India. I should have seen that one coming really.
The term Kundun in Tibetan literally means "presence" but the
Dalai Lama's absence from Tibet is an all too real pain that is impossible
not to feel. Or in a strange way, it could be interpreted as an overall
presence in noting the absence.
In contemporary Tibetan songs and writings, themes of missing someone, often a parent, are common, as well as longing for a distant far off place. These poetic expressions are often ambiguous to avoid
censorship and political problems, many have been translated into English
on my website High Peaks Pure Earth.
In 2011, prominent Tibetan writer, poet and blogger Tsering Woeser wrote
about having a Skype audience with His Holiness from her Beijing apartment. Her blogpost became the most read
on High Peaks Pure Earth ever and and the third most commented upon.
Woeser movingly wrote:
"I cried and I cried. When I, as Tibetans do, prostrated three times,
silently reciting some prayers, holding a khata in my hands and kneeling in
front of the computer with tear-dimmed eyes, I saw His Holiness reaching
out both of his hands as if he was going to take the Khata, as if he was
going to give me his blessings. I am unable to describe with words how I
felt: I am really such a fortunate person; in Tibet, many people get into
trouble simply for owning a photo of the Dalai Lama."
It seems fitting on the occasion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 80th
birthday to honour the Tibetans who patiently wait for him.
|