Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), 145, 150, 159, 172, 211, 250, 255–56, 268
Tibet House, 275
Tibet Improvement Party, 92
Tibet Work Committee (TWC), 166
Tibetan army, 179, 230
Tibetan Art of Living and Dying (Sogyal Rinpoché), 253 n
Tibetan Book of the Dead, 241–42
Tibetan government in exile
Beijing and, 249, 255–56, 303, 304
Central Tibetan Administration, 303
CIA funding of, 223
Congressional Gold Medal and, 304–5
Dalai Lama and, 264
Dalai Lama on, 204, 206, 313–14
democracy and, 312–13
Dorje Shugden, 283
established, 193
Gyalo Thondup and, 267
impeachment clause, 207–8
India-Chinese conflict, 214
relocation threat, 283
United Nations appeals, 200
United States and, 266
See also India
Tibetan identity, 250, 323–24
Tibetan independence
China and, 244, 267, 269–70
Dalai Lama and, 223–24, 308, 327–28
Deng Xiaoping on, 255 n
International Commission of Jurists, 199–200
international support, 265
March riots (1959), 178–79, 268
middle-way political approach, 258–59
Nehru on, 198
restoration of religion, 322
Strasbourg Statement, 269
Third National Forum for Work in Tibet, 277
Tibetan Work Committee’s claims, 180
Tibetan Youth Congress, 269
United Nations’ involvement, 223
See also Amdo; Kham
Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, 208
Tibetan National Assembly, 134, 172
Tibetan National Uprising Day, 223
Tibetan New Year celebrations, 271
Tibetan People’s Association (TPA), 134–35, 150–51, 164
Tibetan studies, 325 n
Tibetan tradition
vs. Christianity, 70
of counting age, 123 n
Dalai Lama, 54
debate within, 100–102
defined, xv–xvi
folktales, 88
food, 38–39
interference, attitude towards, 11–12
karma and feudalism, 125
Lhasa and, 57
loyalty, 89
measurement of time or distance, 355 n59
monasteries and, 70
“nameless religion,” 40–44
priest-patron (cho-yon) relationships within, 9–10
realms, 105–7
rebirth and merit, 74
response to Lungshar’s vision, 25–26
tobacco, 8 n
urgent, interpretation of, 93
on warfare, 153–54
world origins, 4–5
World War II, 84
Tibetan Women’s Association, 175
Tibetan Work Committee (Chinese organization in Tibet), 180
Tibetan Youth Congress, 269, 308
tobacco, 8 n
Tolstoy, Ilya, 83–84
tong len, 212, 227
tongdra, 20
tonsuring ceremony, 61
torma (butter sculptures), 63, 64, 91–92
tradition, defined, xv
travels, of Dalai Lama (14th), 213, 237–38, 246–48, 251–54, 263–64, 272–75
Trijang Rinpoché, 82–83, 90
China and, 126, 169
Dalai Lama and, 150, 198, 224–25, 231, 254, 296
death of, 254–55
Dorje Shugden and, 297
exams, of Dalai Lama, 174–75
in India, 162
Khampas near monastery, 192
plots, against Dalai Lama, 297
Pope Paul VI and, 220
protector support, 114
radio communication, 117
Shugden devotee, 295
signs and omens, 149
Special Frontier Force, 229
Switzerland visit, 264
Taktra Rinpoché and, 295
thangka restoration, 138
threats against, 284
on travel with PLA, 140
Westerners, spiritual depth, 220, 248
Yellow Book, The, 234, 237
See also Dorje Shugden (deity)
Trikamdas, Purushottam, 207
Trimon Shapé, chief minister, 23–24, 234
“Trouble in Shangri La” article, 93
Tsal Gungthang (Tibetan monastery), 173
tsampa, 38, 43, 88, 147
Tsarong (Tibetan war hero), 19–20, 190
tsenshab, 102
Tsering, Diki (mother). See gyalyum chenmo
tsit tsab (ministers), 124, 134, 158
tsoe pa (debate or dialectics), 99–102
Tsongkhapa (14th-century scholar-saint), 81, 105, 286, 291–92, 381–82 n292
See also Gelug tradition
tukdam (equipoise in dying), 256–57
tulkus, 30, 72, 78 n
tum mo (Fierce Woman yoga), 225–27, 227 n, 376 n226
tutors. See education; Harrer, Heinrich; Ling Rinpoché
Tutu, Archbishop Desmond, 315
TV interviews and appearances, 318
U
Uban, General S. S., 228, 230–31, 376–77 n228
umaylam (middle-way). See Middle Way policies
United Nations, 123, 134, 194 n, 200, 206
United States
Chinese-American relations, 223, 266
Dalai Lama visits, 245–48, 251–54, 263, 265–66, 273–75
Ling Rinpoché and, 256
rebel forces training, 201
recognition of Dalai Lama, 265–66, 273, 312
on Seventeen Point Agreement, 130
support and aid from, 132, 163, 192, 194, 202, 206, 246
on Tibet’s independence, 116, 122
See also CIA
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 300–301
Urgya (Ulaanbaatar), 8
USSR (Soviet Union), 245, 271
V
vajra, 132–33
Vajrabhairava, 127
Vajrapani (wrathful bodhisattva), 305
Vajrayana Buddhism, xiv–xv
Vanis, Jan, 141 n
Varela, Francisco, 264–65
vegetarianism, 314, 383 n314
Verses on the Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way (Nagarjuna), 172–73
videos, 287, 310, 378 n252, 383 n310
Vietnam, 325
vinaya (monastic personal code), 14, 253, 357 n79
violence, in Buddhist tradition, 153–54, 267–68, 309
Vishvamata, 137
Volunteer Force for the Protection of the Dharma. See Chushi Gangdruk resistance
vows, 14, 79, 79 n, 123, 154, 253
W
Walt van Praag, Michael van, 270 n
Wangdu, 163
Wannsee Conference, 110
warfare
Batang uprising, 10–12
British massacre in Tibet (1904), 7–8
in Buddhist tradition, 153–54
Dalai Lama on, 302
India vs. Pakistan, 228, 230
Lhasa during World War II, 84
Nyingma art of war magic, 293
Pakistan, 228–31, 327
Sino-Indian War (1962), 213–14, 224
Special Frontier Force, 201, 214, 228–31, 238–39
Tibet vs. China, 189
Tibet’s effectiveness, 201
See also military action; political discord
“When Wrong Is Right,” (Millington jazz-funk composition), 251
White Lotus Rebellion, 322
Winnington, Alan, 149
Wisdom Mantra, 162
women, 175
in Buddhist ceremonies, 310
Dalai Lama’s commitment to, 206, 297
e
ducation, 354 n48
Enlightenment, 328
as future Dalai Lama(s), 328
geshema degree eligibility, 328
independence, 181
as nuns, 139 n, 215, 277, 322, 328
ordination, 328
in riots, 306
World Fellowship of Buddhists conference, 219
X
Xi Xinping, 323
Xining, 48
Xunhua Incident, 171
Y
yabshi kung (father), 52–53, 61, 85, 92
Yamantaka (Lord of Death), 28
Yauch, Adam, 276
Yellow Book, The, 232–37
Yellow Hat sect. See Gelug tradition
yidag (hungry ghosts), 105–6, 329
yoga, 104, 127, 127 n, 225–27, 227 n, 251
Younghusband, Francis, 6, 7, 8
Youth Organisation, 138–39
Yuan dynasty, 9, 114, 115–16
Z
Zhang Zhinwu, 131, 133, 136
Zhao Erfeng, 9, 12–13
zhonghua minzu, 86
Zhongnanhai, 141
Zhou Enlai, 128, 145, 156, 159, 160, 161, 166, 249
Zhu De, Marshal, 141, 145
About the Author
© E. A. Norman
Alexander Norman has collaborated with the Dalai Lama on several best-selling books, including the autobiography Freedom in Exile and Beyond Religion. He is the author of a critically acclaimed history of the Dalai Lamas, Secret Lives of the Dalai Lama: The Untold Story of the Holy Men Who Shaped Tibet, from Pre-History to the Present Day.
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Footnotes
* I once calculated that these books alone entailed spending in excess of 250 hours working alone, or in narrowly restricted company, with the Dalai Lama.
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* He also gave $200,000 to the Mind and Life Institute and the remainder, approximately $75,000, for science education within the Tibetan monasteries in exile.
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* Whether by spooky coincidence or as evidence of some strange karmic link, the first of these was put by my great-grandfather Sir Henry Norman, Baronet (then plain Mr.).
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* From the perspective of the tradition, tobacco is an intoxicant and is therefore prohibited.
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† From the Chinese perspective, the Manchus themselves were, like the Tibetans, a “barbarian” race—in contrast to the “civilized” Han over whom they ruled from 1644 to 1912.
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* Remarkably, this allegation found its way onto the front page of the Daily Illini, the student newspaper of the University of Illinois, on December 20, 1933. Presumably the story was picked up from a British source.
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* Also known as Yamantaka.
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* Probably meaning “uncle” but used by children to refer to any authority figure.
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† Mani probably refers either to a mani stone—a stone with a prayer inscribed on it—or the prayer (mantra) itself.
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* It is also worth remembering that the dominance of this impoverished view of what is possibly true is a very recent development in the history of thought. Most people, most of the time, have taken the larger view that our senses are not the only source of reliable evidence—even if the contrary idea has been around as far back as we can see. In the West, the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus, a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, is associated with this position.
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* It is impossible to give an accurate number for the total population of Tibet. Even today, no reliable numbers exist. Suffice it to say that Tibetans have traditionally claimed around 6 million, while the Chinese offer a figure around half this.
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* This was Archibald Steele, a reporter for the Chicago Daily News.
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* This was Ditru Rinpoché, still alive at the time of writing and a respected lama in his own right.
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* Still in common use today, honorific Tibetan is almost an entirely different language from colloquial Tibetan.
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* Although, strictly speaking, one should say “the medium of the Nechung oracle,” it is simpler to refer to him as Nechung or “the oracle.”
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* On February 22, 1940, to be precise.
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* The Tsarong mansion already had two.
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† I use this term to translate chos srid zung ’brel.
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* A thangka is a religious painting executed on a scroll that is generally bordered with silk brocade. The most important contain paint infused with the powdered relics of one or more high masters.
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* This was Karma Pakshi, ca. 1204–1283.
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† All lamas who reincarnate in this way enjoy the highest status: there are no low-status or minor reincarnate lamas.
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* Roughly equivalent to a modern-day personal trust, the labrang is the legal owner of the estates and other property attaching to the tulku who becomes its life tenant. When he “manifests the act of passing away,” the assets of the labrang pass to his successor. Much like a modern-day trust, the labrang may well have a trading arm, and it will also have a household which it maintains. At that time, the labrang manager of Reting was a notably grasping character, a man completely unable to resist an opportunity to make money, whether by extortion, taxation, or pushing the boundaries of trade agreements entered into innocently by others.
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* Besides chastity, these included vows not to kill, not to steal, and not to boast about one’s spiritual attainments.
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* Mahayana means literally the Great Vehicle, in contrast to Hinayana, meaning, pejoratively, the Lesser Vehicle, though this usage is less usual today. Instead, Theravada is preferred. This—earlier—tradition rejects (generally speaking) as spurious the Mahayana scriptures, which only began to emerge at the beginning of the first millennium, some five hundred years after the death of the historical Buddha.
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* This was Chatral Rinpoché (1913–2015). Note that it is not enough merely to read and accept the validity of a body of scripture. The seeker must receive them in a transmission from a suitably qualified master.
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* Che was one of the two khang tsen, or colleges, that made up Sera Monastery, the other being Sera Mey.
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* This was Chang Ngopa Rinzin Dorje, also known as Kusho Ringang.
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* The word “Buddha” may be translated as “one who is awakened.”
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* It is important to realize that the doctrine of karma is by no means deterministic. The most highly realized practitioners may in certain circumstances be immune to its effects. Moreover, the present moment is precisely an opportunity to effect a transformation of one’s accumulated karma. For example, when a negative memory (itself a karmic residue) is correctly contextualized, it may go from being a negative to a positive imprint. My memory of an accident or mishap may continue to distress me until I understand it as a timely warning to change
my behavior.
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† Such liberation is often termed “Enlightenment,” but this can be misleading. It suggests a moment of epiphany. From the Buddhist perspective, one who is enlightened is straightforwardly one who has passed beyond suffering into nirvana.
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