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SADNESS IN SHANGRI-LA

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Contributed by: Dave Hughes on 3/18/2008

The sad story of the Tibetan people against Communist China.

I like a lot of other Americans in the 30s and 40s grew up with the magical stories of that very remote place in far off Tibet, and the stories about mythical 'Shangri-La.' The stories came out of the 1933 book and movie "Lost Horizons."

"Shangri-La" was reputed to be a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia-a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. In the novel Lost Horizons, the people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan. The word also evokes the imagery of exoticism of the Orient. The story of Shangri-La is based on the concept of Shambhala, a mystical city in actual Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Then, no longer a child inspired by wonderful fiction which, I learned, never-the-less, had its roots in a very real Tibet in the Himalayas, with real Tibetans and their Buddhist monks and monasteries, I went to and graduated from West Point, and immediately went into the harsh reality of the Korean War in the not-so-harmonious Orient.

In fact, I vividly remembered while I was retreating from the Chinese Army hordes in the bitter winter of 1950 a little fragment of 'news' came across - perhaps in the sometime issues of the Army's newspaper 'Stars and Stripes' that China had ALSO invaded Tibet, my Shangri-La, claiming Tibet was always part of China.

No way. The Tibetan people are and never were related to the ethnic Han Chinese. It was, and still is, nothing more than a cynical Mao-directed Communist invasion of neighboring Tibet to get living room for Han Chinese. Expansion by invasion, plain and simple. But far worse, according to the Communist Party ideology, religious Buddhism, the monks, the monasteries, the traditions and the revered Dalai Lama was an anathema, and had to be eradicated. Cultural genocide.

So in 1959 there was an uprising in Lhasa, the Chinese Government blamed the Dalia Lama (he did not start it, the Tibetan people themselves rose up to resist Chinese occupation, while he was their spiritual leader). So he and thousands of Tibetans were forced to flee over the 18-20,000 foot high Himalayas in a harsh winter, nto the northwestern corner of India, centered on high Dharamsala. That gave the Indian government political problems, but they permitted the Dalai Lama and his followers to stay. They - 80,000 of them - are still there, and have formed the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India. The sad story of that community is at http://www.iisd.org/50comm/commdb/desc/d46.htm

That is where I visited them just a year ago, to be a speaker at, surprisingly, a technical conference in the mountain fastness of India amongst Buddhists in Hindu India. That was thanks to my success helping the Buddhist Tsering Sherpa of Nepal connect his people up to the Internet wirelessly in 2004, on the slopes of Mount Everest. I have a portion of my linkingeverest web site devoted to that trip to India and Dharamsala. http://gallery.linkingeverest.com/main.php

I have always felt a kinship with the Dalai Lama. We are about the same age. He and I both went through the trauma of a Chinese Invasion when we were young men. He, resisting peacefully the invasion of Tibet, me resisting with force of arms the invasion of South Korea.

We both came to a sort of Truce - me holding off the Chinese at Hill 347 on the now-DMZ in Korea. He in making a home for Tibetans in India.

The damned Chinese have destroyed all but 8 of the 6,259 monasteries, nunneries, and temples in Tibet. And with extreme insolence have tried to install their own 'Dalai Lama' If I were younger I would gladly go to war with China again, over just Tibet.

Knowing the gentle Tibetan people, who indeed, for all the harshness of their high plateau home, its ever struggling economy, and the great efforts of the real Dalai Lama to 'preserve' the Tibetan and Buddhist Culture, even if from exile, that land has always been a lot closer to Shangri-la than other places in the world. The Dalai Lama preserves this by making his home in Dharamsala, supporting monasteries around the world, funding education of youngsters and helping organize schools in other countries. He takes in children many of who parents are still IN Tibet but smuggle them to his mountain fastness in India. And he even adopts the Internet technology to help 'connect up' and educate Tibetan and Buddhist people where ever they are. The Dalai Lama is a very modern man.

I even observed up close in 15,000 foot Namche, Nepal the obvious beneficial effects of Buddhism - which is the religion of most Sherpa's - on the culture. I saw it up close with Tsering Sherpa, who dutifully, in mid day stopped work, put on the appropriate garb gathered his family (wife and two young boys) up, went to his home and put out according to the rules, more and specific 'prayer flags.' I don't think there was any prostitution in Namche even though thousands of outsiders pass through Namche, the rest over stop. Communist Maoists can't make any inroads there either. And the Sherpas, just over the passes from Tibet, live pretty peaceful lives. They are not warlike.

Well, Tsering Sherpa from Nepal still may make his promised visit to Colorado Springs, during his trip to the US, staying at our house, between April 15th and May 15th. If he and his wife make it, we in the Old Colorado City Historical Society will give him an opportunity to speak about 'life on Mount Everest' AND about the life of Buddhists and HIS take on the sad story of Tibet and the Dalai Lama. He speaks English quite well.

And I will back him up at the History Center which can hold 75 by a large screen wireless internet connection to my extensive graphical library from my two trips there on my Linking Everest web site.

But part of the Sad Story is the reaction of the International Olympic movement to the bloody crackdown on the Tibetans by the Chinese government just now. They, including the US, are SO worried about 'spoiling' the Olympics in China, they not only refuse - all of them - to even talk about boycotting the games for the extreme abuses by China of an entire people.

So the games will go on while the Chinese government continues to kill and jail Tibetans, destroy their entire culture and my Shangri-La while two-faced smiling for the television cameras in Beijing. And practices the biggest lie of all - pretending Tibet is part of China.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 4/7/2008 @ 8:02:11 AM

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Of course if anyone thinks that only the Chinese invasion, occupation, and supression of Tibet is the one 'human rights' issue for China, just check out what it happening to huge Yinjiang Province which borders on Tibet and Mongolia. The Chinese invaded THAT area in 1949, whose native population is NOT Han Chinese, are Uighurs and MUSLIM! And THEY are supressed just like Tibetans. And their religion supressed also. And 600,000 Han Chinese have been resettled in that province.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 4/7/2008 @ 7:14:47 AM

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Now that the outrage by those who - at last -see the supression of Tibetans and destruction of its religion - the carrying of the Olympic Torch around the world will, in the end, burn Communist China. London and Paris are only the first examples. I'm waiting to see what will happen when China attempts to have the torch carried through Tibet to the summit of Mt Everest. Ever seen Yeti's protest?

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 4/3/2008 @ 8:17:46 AM

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Well, its nice that the Hub posted my screed above in Thursday's Old Colo edition. And they didn't screw it up by editing! Timing is good, as those who still object to China's takeover - 58 years ago, of Tibet are protesting wherever the Torch passes through. Maybe the publicity against China will convince them they need to deal with the Dalai Lama, who is not pushing for Independence for Tibet, but a 'self governing' Tibet while under Chinese rule.

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

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Dave Hughes

Colorado Springs , CO

Dave Hughes has posted 79 stories and 87 comments since joining on 3/1/2007. Dave Hughes 's average story rating is 4.9.

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