Destruction Of Tibet And Tibetan Buddhism example essay topic

"The only way to settle questions of an ideological nature of controversial issues among the people is by the democratic method, the method of discussion, or criticism, of persuasion and education and not by the method of coercion or repression". This statement was made by Mao Tse Tung, the Communist leader of China, in February of 1957. Seven years earlier, Chinese forces had invaded and begun the destruction of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. The Plateau of Tibet comprises nearly the entire southeastern portion of China. Wedged between the Kunlun and Himalayan Mountain Ranges it is a beautiful plateau with breathtaking views all around it. The territory itself promotes a feeling of peace, meditation, and spirituality.

The plateau is also the source of five of Asia's greatest rivers, making it vital to the environment. Centuries ago, a very unique religion, Tibetan Buddhism, grew from the settlers of this region. This religion was based on soul-searching and meditation and highly discouraged war, violence, and any forms of negativity in thought, word, or action. The religion thrived in the region and soon became the political force of the nation of Tibet. The religion was the state; therefore there was no military until the early 20th Century, but then there was just a small, fairly ineffective army.

This made the area highly vulnerable to any who wanted it. China, in 1949, became the communist People's Republic of China. In less than one year, military forces marched into the peaceful territory of Tibet claiming that it belonged to China. This was the beginning of over 50 years of the needless slaughter and destruction of a people and religion that posed no threat to the people of China or its government. "Since that time, over 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed, 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed, and thousands of Tibetans have been imprisoned". Nine years after the invasion by China the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and political leader, fled the country in an attempt to save his life.

He went to Dharmsala, India, a small town that lies approximately 150 miles to the East of the Tibet-India border. It is in this town that the Dalai Lama, along with over 100,000 Tibetan refugees, has set up the Tibetan government in exile. Here they continue their non-violent protest of the atrocious acts of violence committed against the followers of Buddhism that have remained in Tibet or China. The forced abortion and sterilization of Tibetan and Chinese women paired with the practice of the Chinese government of sending low-income Chinese citizens to the Tibetan territory has increased the Chinese population so much that in some provinces of Tibet there are more Chinese than there are Tibetans. Since 1959, China has dumped hazardous wastes, including nuclear waste and biochemical material into the five river sources in the Tibetan area.

China has also cleared hundreds of acres of Tibetan forest. The Yamdrok Tso, a lake that is considered highly sacred in Tibetan Buddhism, has been drained for use involving a hydroelectric power plant. But these are only cases of Chinese abuse of natural resources. The story of Ngawang Choephel is one of the many included in this paper that illustrates the human rights abuses by China, the unnecessary arrests made by them, and the outrageousness of the claims of the Communist government. Choephel is a Tibetan who grew up in the United States in exile. He received his education in the United States and continued even further to become a Fulbright Scholar.

He began a career as a music teacher and collected folk music. In 1995, Choephel set out to Tibet to make a documentary of Tibetan Buddhist music and dance. In September of 1995, he was found by the Chinese government and arrested. "In December 1996, according to a Radio Tibet broadcast monitored by the BBC, Ngawang Choephel was sentenced to 18 years in prison for spying. The broadcast said he had been partly funded by a foreign country, which elsewhere Beijing identified as the U.S. The musician had received a small grant from a U.S. foundation and from individual sponsors, but a Radio Tibet broadcast suggested that he was funded by the U.S. government and was arrested because he 'had carried out espionage activities'."At year's end several thousand other (political prisoners), including Bishop An Shu xin, Cai Gui hua, Chen Lanta o, Chen Long de, Han Chun sheng, Li Bi feng, Li Hai, Liu Jing sheng, Peng Ming, Qin Yong min, Shen Liang qing, Wang You cai, Pastor Xu Yonge, Xu Guo xing, Xu Wendi, Yang Qin heng, Zhang Lin, Zhang Shan guang, Zhao Changing, Zhou Yon jun, Ngawang Choephel, Abbot Chad rel Rinpoche, Jigme San gpo, and Ngawang Sang rol... remained imprisoned or under other forms of detention for the peaceful expression of their political, social, or religious views. Some of those who completed their sentences and were released from prison -- such as Bao Tong, senior aide to former Communist Party leaders -- were kept under surveillance and prevented from taking employment or otherwise resuming normal lives.

There were also reports of increasing surveillance of dissidents". Another example of someone who is commonly thought to be a political prisoner is the Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama's given name is Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. His status as the 11th Panchen Lama means that he is the second most important leader in Tibetan Buddhism. As the reincarnation of Amitabh a Buddha, or the Wisdom Buddha, he is also responsible for protecting, liberating, and enlightening the Tibetans. Finding this incarnation began what would be a difficult six-year search that required constant evasion of the Chinese government, and many dangerous risks.

On May 17, 1995 the Panchen Lama, his family, and the people who led the search party devoted to finding the incarnate were taken to Beijing and since then no-one has heard anything of or from them. Since this disappearance, the People's Republic of China has claimed that the Panchen Lama was at his home village with his family. Then, in March 1996 they claimed that he was in Chinese custody to "protect" him from the Tibetans. About three months later, the Republic said that the Panchen Lama was in the Tibetan community again, a completely unsubstantiated report. In September 1998, the government once again claimed to have him in their custody to protect him from Tibetans. Many people have made many attempts to find then, some as notable as Mary Robinson, the high commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations.

She took a trip to Tibet in September of 1998 and was denied access to him by the People's Republic of China. This is a common story for many political prisoners of communist China, but what makes this particular story so sad is that the Panchen Lama, on April 25, 2000, would have celebrated his 11th birthday. If he is not dead, as many presume, he is the youngest political prisoner in the world". In December 1995, the People's Republic of China (PRC) illegally announced its own Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Nor bu.

The PRC has absolutely no authority to choose the next Panchen Lama. Only the Dalai Lama has the right to select the Panchen Lama. The PRC also has no legal justification to hold Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, his family, or members of the search party as hostages". The next story is that of fourteen Tibetan nuns who, on August 21, 1990, were arrested and tortured for taking part in a pro-independence rally in Lhasa, Tibet. This demonstration was completely peaceful, in accordance with Buddhist teaching. This protest lasted little over four minutes.

They were taken to Lhasa's Drapchi Prison, which is considered one of the most notorious in the Tibet area, due to its horrible conditions. Secretly, the nuns recorded pro-independence songs along with messages to their families on a very crude tape recorded and sent them to their families. They were soon widely distributed throughout Tibet and when the Chinese found out, the nuns were charged with spreading counter-revolutionary propaganda and each had their prison sentence increased. Again, the Drapchi Prison is notorious for its horrible conditions. Political Prisoners are especially prone to torture, beating, and even shocking with electric cattle prods.

Females are especially in danger in the Prison and are often raped by the prison guards. Next is the story of Palden Gyatso. Gyatso was born in Tibet in 1933 and at the age of 18 was ordained a Buddhist monk. He soon became a student at the renowned Dre pung Monastery, one of the greatest Buddhist monasteries in the world. There he gained greater spiritual understanding and intellectual maturity. However, the Chinese were on their way.

In 1959, along with thousand of other Buddhist leaders and followers, Gyatso was taken to forced labor camps and prisons. For the next thirty years he was continuously beaten, tortured, and persecuted for being a strong Buddhist. In the video "Free Tibet", a documentary or the Tibetan Freedom Concert as well as the Tibetan struggle, Gyatso relates some of his story in his own words: "We were virtually starved to death. We were given hardly any food at all, so we were compelled to eat grass, whatever kind of insects, even Chinese Vomit". While in prison, Gyatso endured multiple forms of torture. In 1967, the use of the electric cattle prod became common in Chinese prisons.

"The 13th of October 1990 was the worst experience Gyatso had in terms of torture. In this case the cattle prods were stuck into his mouth, and as a result of it he lost all of his teeth". These were used on nearly every prisoner quite often. Many times, Gyatso witnessed guards raping Buddhist nuns that were imprisoned in the same area with the prods. In 1992, Gyatso was released from prison and escaped into India, taking with him some of the device used by the guards to torture him. He has now devoted himself to the cause of Tibetan freedom from oppression.

He has written a book, The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk, which chronicles his time as a monk, the invasion of Tibet, and his experiences in prison. Gyatso's story is especially touching in that it is not just unique to him. Thousands of others have gone through the same or more suffering. Some aren't as lucky as he is and often don't live through the torture and starvation to see the day their prison sentence finishes. Even then, they still have to make it through the long trek to India or another country where it isn't a crime to be a Buddhist. Perhaps the most remarkable action to come out of the 50 years of suffering is the non-action.

Throughout everything the Tibetans have gone through, with the pain and torture inflicted on them and the hate that has been displayed the Tibetans still maintain their religious principle of non-violence. Instead the Tibetans have taken it upon themselves to forgive the Chinese people of everything done to them. "Instead of hate, I get more concern, more compassion toward them. And in my daily prayer there are certain practices called exchange, or take and give. My positive mental thought I give them through imagination and I take their ignorance, their suffering, their anger, their hatred, and I take it into myself.

That kind of practice I seriously do". Throughout the 5 decades of occupation there has been little attempts by China to show any compassion toward the Tibetan people. The most notable of the attempts is the "Seventeen-Point Plan for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" of May 23, 1951. However, China has violated nearly every point on this plan. The agreement was signed by delegates from the Central People's Government and the local Government of Tibet. The points are as follows: 1.

Tibet will unite and drive out all imperialistic forces from Tibet and return to the motherland of China. 2. Tibet will let the People's Liberation Army enter the nation and consolidate national defense. 3. Tibet may exercise "national regional autonomy under the unified leadership of the Central People's Government".

4. China will not alter the political system of Tibet with regards to the functions of the Dalai Lama and other officials. 5. The Panchen Ngoerhtehni's powers shall be maintained. 6.

Items 4 and 5 are in reference to the 13th Dalai Lama and the 9th Panchen Ngoertehni. 7. "The policy of freedom of religious belief laid down in the Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will be protected. The Central Authorities will not effect any change in the income of the monasteries". 8.

Tibet's troops will be integrated into the People's Liberation Army of China. 9. The current spoken and written language of Tibet will be maintained. 10. Agriculture, livestock raising, industry and commerce will be integrated into the Chinese economy. 11.

There will be no obligation on the Central Authorities regarding matters of reform in Tibet, they will be the responsibility of the leadership of Tibet. 12. Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) officials may hold office irrespective of their past as long as they sever their relations with imperialism. 13. "The People's Liberation Army entering Tibet will abide by the above-mentioned policies and will also be fair in all buying and selling and will not arbitrarily take a needle or a thread from the people". 14.

The Central People's Government of China will handle all foreign affairs and promises to maintain a peaceful co-existence with all surrounding nations. 15. The Central People's Government will set up a military presence in Tibet to ensure the complete agreement and implementation of this agreement. 16. Funds required for the People's Liberation Army will be provided by the Central People's Government, except for matters of "food, fodder, and other daily necessities" which purchases will be assisted by local Tibetan Governments. 17.

The agreement will go into effect when signed by all of the delegates. Due to the loss of Tibet's sovereignty as a nation to China, there is no real way for Tibet to enforce the points of this agreement, since it was made outside the jurisdiction of the United Nations or any World Courts. Throughout the past decade, many people have stepped forward in defense of Tibet. Actors and Musicians have taken an especially strong stand, specifically Richard Gere, rap band The Beastie Boys, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Seagal. In 1997, the first of a series of Tibetan Freedom Concerts opened in San Francisco. These concerts have toured nationwide in an attempt to raise money and support for the cause of a free Tibet.

Also, the Milarepa fund has been created by Adam Y auch, from the Beastie Boys, and has raised millions for the cause. Although there is much support for the cause, there has been little done by any countries to help at least better the conditions in Tibet. Persecution still rages on and tortures, abuse, and violence continue. Yet all nations remain silent.

What is the cause of this silence? In my opinion, it is because of greed. For centuries, China has been a largely popular importing and exporting country and trade with them has paid well. However, when should a nation realize that it is time to stop supporting another nation?

How many unnecessary killing are allowed before other nations stand up the rights of human beings? Just a few days ago, the United States opened Free Trade with China even more, and although the State Department claims that this helps people in Tibet, the only people it is helping are the Chinese aristocrats who are at the heart of this evil against the peaceful Tibetans. The Dalai Lama, when asked if he thought he would ever see Tibet again, responded "Oh yes! I think the day of our return with a certain degree of freedom will definitely come.

I will definitely achieve that in my lifetime, I think". This can't happen without the potential economic pressure that China would feel if we were to even slightly cut trade with China, but we are more concerned with having nice cars than we are about people on the other side of the Earth who don't believe the same way that we do.

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