|
|
|
January 8 |
LA Times1/8/00 |
Dexter Filkins, in a long and thorough article in the LA Times, is most notable for its closing quote:
"'Tibetan Buddhists look at a lama the way people in America would see an astronaut, a presidential candidate and a religious leader--all in one,' said Robert Thurman, professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies at
Columbia. 'For lamas to be able to flourish in freedom--and for people to have access to them--is considered crucial to the survival of their culture.'" Full text. |
Reuters
1/8/00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reuters has published the first photograph of the Karmapa in India (captioned "Karmapa Lama, Tibet's third highest-ranking lama, arrives at a guesthouse after meeting Tibet's spiritual leader Dalai Lama "). Full text of the short article is at the iSyndicate website. |
Hindustan Times
Indian Express1/8/99 |
The Hindustan Times, in India and China Play Down Karmapa Lama's Defection, reports that
India and China are both being subdued about the Karmapa's arrival in India. That story, sourced from New Delhi, and a story in the Indian Express entitled
Rumtek Regent Disowns Chinese Karmapa
also picks up the claims of "Shamarpa Rimpoche" that the Karmapa is being "stage-managed by the Chinese." This is one of a number accounts that seem to be responding to press releases by an anti-Karmapa faction with ties to certain press outlets in New Delhi. Good practice would suggest that the claims of the anti-Karmapa be subject to some independent verification and there is reason to doubt the validity of a number of these claims.
It is true that it has been widely reported that Shamar Rinpoche was once affiliated with His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, and since that time has publicly renounced any connection with the Seventeenth
Karmapa and the Kagyu school which supports the Seventeenth Karmapa. However, rather than citing specific reporting or independent analysis, the Indian press (and organizations such as CNN who are picking up
these reports) are reporting as facts details which are not substantiated by credible evidence. The linchpins of the anti-Karmapa faction are the assertions of authority based on Shamar Rinpoche's contention
that he was the "regent" and of His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa, "second highest lama," and that he thus has rightful control of Rumtek Monastery in India. This faction relies on this purported authority
to bolster their claims, and thus deflects independent assessment of the reasons for their claims. Though it is being widely reported that the monastery located in Rumtek, Sikkim, India, is under the
control of various parties ranging from Shamar Rinpoche to rival candidates for various positions, It is in fact undisputed by both the anti-Karmapa factions and the Kagyu establishment that Rumtek Monastery
has been the seat of the Karmapas, having of necessity become the main seat of the Sixteenth Karmapa after he left Tibet in the 1950's. Shamar Rinpoche's claim to have some authority over that monastery has
been disputed by the vast majority of Kagyu clerics and administrators, and is not supported by the current Tibetan government in exile. Indeed, Shamar Rinpoche now bases his claim on a lawsuit he initiated
in the Indian courts, which at this stage of the case have the status of allegations. Regarding his claims of "regency," the record suggests that Karmapa relied on at least four persons equally for
religious authority, and for administration primarily relied on a general secretary unaffiliated with Shamar Rinpoche. Useful perspective may also be obtained by reviewing what can be found published
about the history of Shamar Rinpoche incarnations in Tibet prior to the 1950s. In 1793, the Tenth Shamar Rinpoche (1742-1792) was banned by the Tibetan government for anti-government activities, and
his monastery was confiscated. No Shamarpa incarnation or office holder was allowed in Tibet for most of the twentieth century. Accordingly, after the Tenth Shamar Rinpoche, no Shamar Rinpoche has been
included in the Kagyu lineage tree. The current Shamar Rinpoche's claims about "centuries old practices," as reported in the Express, need to be compared against the more recent history of the last
two centuries. The current Shamar Rinpoche was officially recognized by the Dalai Lama only after he had left Tibet, and though accepted as a hierarch in the Kagyu order by the Sixteenth Karmapa, has
since the Karmapa's death voluntarily severed his ties with vast majority of Kagyu hierarchs and administrators. Full text of the
Hindustan Times and Indian Express are available at the respective websites. |
Times of India1/8/00 |
The Times of India reports on the Karmapa's entry into India in The 900 Miles To Freedom. Jagdish
Batt reports from Shimla that Tashi Wangde, a minister in the Dalai Lama's administration, received an anonymous call that a high ranking lama was at a local hotel. "'I immediately told my secretary to go
and check out the information. I was shocked when he told me that the Lama was none other than Ugyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th reincarnation of Karmapa R[i]mpoche." Batt provides the most detailed account
yet of the Karmapa's departure from Tibet, although it is unclear whether the "informed sources" alluded to in the article are persons familiar with the Karmapa's specific journey, or are exiled Tibetans
with knowledge of other Tibetans who travelled from Tibet to India. Batt sketches out a picture of the trip, noting that "The seven are said to have been under tremendous pressure following the hijacking of
the Indian Airlines plane and the subsequent stepped-up security along the Indo-Nepal border." The Times
reports that the only possessions brought by the party into India was the clothes they were wearing. Full text of the articles is at the Times of India website. |
The Toronto StarAP 1/8/00 |
The Toronto Star
provides a good compilation of continuously updated AP wire reports in Tibetan leader resting after fleeing China. The report describes the Karmapa's action as "the most significant exodus
since the Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of Tibetans departed their homeland after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule." The AP reporter also provides welcome detail on the six person party which
traveled with His Holiness, which reportedly included his 24 year old sister, a Buddhist nun. The article indicates that numerous sources attribute the Karmapa's decision to the refusal of the Chinese
authorities to allow his teachers to visit him and instruct him in his development, a tradition at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism (see below). Full text of the article is at the Star website. |
MF Dnes Daily1/8/00 |
In the MF Dnes Daily, Prague, The Czech Republic's largest paper (roughly translated courtesy of Jirka Hladis),
a report in the Czech language is entitled Potential Dalai Lama's Successor Escapes From China. The Daily
apparently accepts without much analysis the rumor that the Chinese authorities were seeking to make the Karmapa a successor to the Dalai Lama. Most analysts speculating on political motives for the Karmapa's action (it is notable that the neither the Karmapa himself or official spokesman have yet publicly stated their motives for departing Tibet) think it highly unlikely that the Chinese government has any intention of creating any new theocratic power for the Karmapa, but rather intended to use his presence in the country as an example of Chinese cooperation with acknowledged religious figures in Tibet.
The article also describes the scene in Dharmsala in this way: "Now the young man stays in local hotel McLeod Ganj, which was built by the British for the needs of their army, and he does not accept
any visits, with the exception of the Dalai Lama. Hundreds of Buddhist monks and believers gathered in front of the hotel to see the young Karmapa." The full text
of the Czech-language article is available online at the IDnes site. (NOTE: the link may work only in Netscape browsers; there have been reports of problems with this link in IE5.) |
South China
Morning Post1/8/00 |
In the South China Morning Post's front page story entitled Flight Of Boy Lama Deals Blow To Beijing
, Jasper Becker reports on the Karmapa's movements for the Hong Kong daily. It has been widely reported that one probable motivation for the Karmapa's actions is the continued refusal
by the government of China to allow the Karmapa's teachers to enter Tibet. It is a well-established requirement in all Tibetan Buddhist orders that even the highest ranking hierarch must extensively study,
learn and practice under other Tibetan Buddhist lineage holders. In this way, oral instructions and personal insights are passed from teacher to student, and this continuous thread constitutes the basis for
the "lineages" that define Tibetan Buddhism. It is well documented that, according to Tibetan practice, teaching lineages trace back thousands of years. Indeed, in the Kagyu tradition, the concept of the
"ear-whispered" lineage is fundamental to Kagyu education and practice. (An example of the role of lineage in Buddhist practice and education is available by perusing the present website.) However, it has
been reported that the lineage teachers for the Karmapa, such as his main teacher His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche, were barred by the government from entering Tibet to fulfill this critical religious
obligation. The Post's
Becker does not so fully explain this aspect of the institution of Tibetan Buddhism, but alludes to this practice in the following passage: "Sources said there was a secret agreement that if reincarnations, like the Karmapa, were found in China, they would be free to travel to India to receive teaching, or teachers living abroad would be allowed to visit and instruct him. It now appears the agreement was not honoured. Although the 17th Karmapa has traveled in China and met the Panchen Lama, he could not visit India. His teachers had not been permitted to come to China. Last summer, a number of Buddhist monks asked Beijing to request that the boy's teachers in India be allowed to visit China to continue his religious education." Becker goes on to speculate that "the followers of the Kagyu sect appear to have concluded there was no choice but to organise his flight." The
full text of the article is available at the SCMP website. |
The Guardian
1/8/00 |
In The Guardian, John Gittings in Hong Kong, in an article coyly titled The Boy Who Outwitted A Superpower, opens with a vivid depiction of a young boy struggling
through the snowy mountain pass while avoiding Chinese police patrols. In a detailed and nuanced analysis, Gittings weighs the Chinese arguments that China supported the Karmapa's religious activities
against reports that his Monastery "suffered from increasingly crude efforts by local communist officials in Tibet to weed out potential dissent," including visits by reeducation teams, and increased
pressure occasioned by the Falung Gong crackdown. Gittings makes some very astute observations that are commonly misreported. First, he punctures the misconception that there are only one or two
"reincarnate" lamas in Tibet (unfortunately Gittings uses the odd-sounding (to this ear) jargon "living buddha," which is apparently derived from the Chinese translation of the Tibetan word for tulku,
which in English would be literally translated as something like "emanation body"). "There are more than 150 Living Buddhas alive today but until this week only the two most powerful - the Dalai Lama and the
Panchen Lama - were involved in controversy. The young Karmapa, protege till now of Beijing, has now emerged dramatically." Gittings is the also the first to begin to acknowledge the significance of the
"black hat," noting that in the 13th century "The Mongolian ruler Kublai Khan gave the first Karmapa a black hat to mark his authority." Full text
of the article is at the Guardian website. |
CNN1/8/99 |
CNN reports on a number of newly breaking events in Tibetan Religious Leader Who Fled China Seen In Public.
The article describes how the Karmapa was seen Saturday in Dharamsala
getting "out of a car and briskly climb[ing] the stairs to a closely guarded rest house in Mcleodganj, about nine kilometers (six miles) from Dharmsala, where he met with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. The
Karmapa, wearing a dark brown monk's robe and light orange scarf, appeared in good humor when he arrived at the Chonor House, on the Dalai Lama's compound. But he was said to be tired and suffering from
blistered feet and scratched hands after his journey out of China. Monks presented him with brightly colored Tibetan shawls and other gifts while the Dalai Lama's guard service and police from the Indian
state of Himachal Pradesh watched."Meanwhile, CNN quotes "Shamarpa Rinpoche," head of an anti-Karmapa Kagyu faction headquarted in New Delhi, as stating that Karmapa's arrival in India is a "political
ploy" engineered by the Chinese government to employ the Karmapa as a "political instrument." No reasoning or evidence to support Shamarpa Rinpoche's statement is reported by CNN. CNN also recounts the
first official statement from the Tibetan government in exile. At a news conference, Kalong Tashi Wangdi, minister for religion and culture in the Dalai Lama's administration, said: "'He is 14 years old
and he has undertaken a long and difficult journey. He is not talking properly. He is very tired and very restless. . . . We were caught by surprise when we were told that he had arrived [and] have not
been able to get details about why he arrived and how he arrived. After hearing his views, only then will we be able to give details.'" Full text of the article is on the CNN website. |
The Irish TimesThe Irish Times1/8/00 |
Dublin's Irish Times carries two articles on the Karmapa's journey. In Tibetan Icon Recovers In Indian
Shelter After Fleeing
by David Orr from Dharamsala, some more official statements begin trickling out from Dharamsala. Orr quotes Tenzin Taklha, deputy secretary at the office of the Dalai Lama as saying that "'The people here are very joyous at the arrival of the Karmapa. The Karmapa is a very important and holy person.'" Orr informs us that "young lama is being sheltered from visitors until Indian officialdom has regularised his position. He is staying at Chonor House, a Tibetan guesthouse near the residence of the Dalai Lama. Indian plainclothes security men with walkie-talkies were last night in evidence at the guesthouse."
Full text
of the article is at the Times site. In Youth's Epic Flight To India Frustrates China's Plan, Conor O'Cleary in Beijing describes how China has recently asked the Karmapa to appear
in state events, in an apparent attempt to make the Karmapa appear sympathetic to government policies. This line of analysis, which appears in a number of accounts, is no doubt valid. However,
there is little evidence upon which to base the speculation, found in O'Cleary's article and other accounts, that the Chinese hoped to turn the Karmapa into a more powerful religious leader in Tibet. While
it is undeniable that China would have been benefitted if it was able to engineer the appearance that the Karmapa supported the Chinese government, most analysts indicate that it is very unlikely that the
Chinese would have wished to increase the Karmapa's authority in Tibet and risk substituting one form of theocratic government for another. The dilemma for China has always been how to apply its basic
non-religious governing system to deeply religious Tibet. China has always clearly hewed to a policy that no theocratic government would be permitted, and still seems to regard religious practice as
unnecessary. Thus China seemed to be trying to diminish His Holiness Karmapa's spiritual authority, rather than to increase it. Press reports indicate that the Chinese had reneged on promises to allow the
Karmapa to fulfill his duties as head of the Kagyu lineage, which requires a full and ongoing interchange with a variety of teachers and other religious lineage figures who were not free to travel to
Tibet. Full text
of the article is at the Times site. |
Washington Post 1/8/00 |
The Washington Post's Foreign Service finally pipes up, as Barbara Constable reports from New Delhi in
Young Buddhist Leader Flees Tibet for India. The story is careful to note that the Karmapa has not publically expressed reasons for leaving, and that his intentions are unclear. However, the article
focuses on the political impact the Karmapa's action may have should the Karmapa be deemed to have "defected" and provides a detailed point-counterpoint on the position being taken by the Chinese government
versus the position of certain Tibet supporters. The article notes the basic Chinese government position that the Karmapa had left to address an internal controversy in the Kagyu order, but contrasts that to
reports that the Karmapa had been denied freedom to practice his Buddhist religion as he wished. Crossette concludes that "if the Karmapa Lama has indeed defected from China, it would be the most
important defection of a Buddhist leader since 1959 . . . . [S]aid one Western diplomat here, 'Symbolically, it would be a big blow.' Full text of the article is available at the Washington Post website. |
Sydney Morning Herald |
The Sydney Morning Herald
out of Sydney, Australia, in a page one report from David Rennie, reports on some of the traditional stories of the Karmapa's discovery in Tibet: "The 17th Karmapa Lama was born in June 26, 1985, into a family of nomads in eastern Tibet. He was nicknamed Apo Gaga, or "happy brother", by his older sister and his early life was divided between his family and a monastery where he was given the special education of a chosen one. In 1992, when monks were looking for the reincarnation of the 1[7]th Karmapa, the little boy's parents told them that in the days after his birth, their valley had resounded with the sounds of bells, horns and sacred conch shells. After passing certain tests, he was duly enthroned at Tsurphu. In a gesture of co-operation that has never been repeated, the Dalai Lama and Beijing both approved the boy."
Full text of Boy Lama
Crosses Mountains to Escape Chinese Masters is at the SMH website. |
London TelegraphLondon Telegraph01/08/00 |
The Telegraph continues its extensive coverage of The Karmapa story, leading with
Boy Lama Recovering from Himalayan Flight. The focus of today's story is the intial reaction of the Indian government to the developing situation. David Graves reports from Dharamsala that "A senior
official in the Indian foreign ministry was dispatched from New Delhi to Dharamsala, which is 400 miles north in the foothills of the Himalayas and where around 90,000 Tibetan refugees live. He spoke to the
Karmapa and four of his aides who fled with him. The official returned to the Indian capital last night for consultations with other diplomats and ministers." Graves informs the reader that the Karmapa's
meeting with the Dalai Lama's "was the first time the two men, both regarded by their followers as the living presence of Buddha, had met and officials said it was quite 'an emotional moment for everyone
involved.'" Boy
Lama Recovering From Himalayan Flight is available at the Telegraph website. In the second Telegraph article, a
well-written and detailed backgrounder and overview of events entitled Lama's Long Trek To A Holy Summit, David Rennie takes a shot at describing the Karmapa's mystique among Tibetans. "To the
devout, that meeting on Wednesday [with His Holiness the Dalai Lama], in the muddy, scruffy north Indian hill station of Dharamsala, was a holy summit between the heads of the two great sects of Tibetan
Buddhism. In more human terms, the 64-year-old Dalai Lama could have been looking at his younger self, as he gently greeted the young Karmapa, leader of the powerful and wealthy Kagyupa sect. . . . Forty one
years ago, the Dalai Lama himself took to the high passes of the Himalayas, in the shadow of Everest, to leave his native kingdom for a life of exile. Now, four decades on, the young Karmapa had taken the
same decision." Rennie provides an account of Karmapa's renowned presence: "[D]isciples who have met the Karmapa describe him as a figure of unusually steely will, and a maturity far beyond his age. . . .
The Karmapa's intense looks, with his fiercely flushed red cheeks and piercing stare, are all redolent of the true lama to Tibetan believers, as is his determination." Rennie also provides fascinating
speculation of what might have been required for His Holiness to get out of Tibet over near-impassable mountains in the worst part of winter amidst intense surveillance from Chinese authorities. "All his
courage and his strong will would have been needed for his escape. . . . A well placed source in India expressed his astonishment that he had got through. He said: 'For a person of the Karmapa's
stature to escape the Chinese noose is unbelievable. Conditions in Tibet are so tight.'" Officials from the local Religious Affairs Bureau stated that "'We got news on Dec 31 that he had disappeared. We have
no idea how.'"
Full text of this colorful account is available at the Telegraph website. |
New York Times01/08/00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The New York Times has a short article today, focusing primarily on the Tibet Government in Exile's unwillingness to comment
while assessing the implications of His Holiness Karmapa's arrival in Dharamsala. Full text of the article is available at the Times website. |
Mingpao of Hong Kong1/8/99 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Chinese-language daily Mingpao
today breaks what it labels an "exclusive" in a number of articles. In Young Tibetan Tulku Left for India; Beijing: "Not a betrayal" Dharamsala: "He fled"
(rough translation provided courtesy of Brian Wong), the Mingpao
reports that "According to informed sources, the Beijing authorities have been furious after hearing the news. The Tibetan Public Safety Bureau is currently hastening to investigate the background and details of the Karmapa's departure. Belying the internal tension, Beijing is showing a relaxed face outwardly, claiming the Karmapa only went outside of the country to retrieve important ritual implements and the Black Hat used by all the past Karmapas. Not wanting to block his return, the authorities have avoided the use of 'betrayal' to characterize the incident. Secretly, however, they are also trying to understand the Karmapa's current condition and position through various channel, so as to prepare for future attempts to lure him back."
"Individuals close to the Karmapa indicated to our reporters that, however, 'after the departure, the Karmapa will not be going back.'" Full text of the article in Chinese (Chinese Traditional (Big 5) encoding) is at the Mingpao website. |
CNN1/8/00 |
CNN updates the story of the Karmapa's departure from Tibet in its early edition posted from Hong Kong, and includes a streaming video version of its television report online
(accessible from the CNN website). Entitled Prominent Tibetan Lama Flees To India, CNN relies on reporting from Dharamsala and from correspondent Kasra Naji and AP wire reports in calling the
Karmapa's departure the "most significant defection since the Dalai Lama went into exile." CNN provides some detail on physical obstacles the Karmapa overcame in getting to Dharamsala this way: "Aides say
the Karmapa fled with four monks from his 800-year- old Tsurphu monastery outside the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on December 28 and traveled through the snow-covered Himalayas across Nepal and into India. The
trip was made by jeep and on foot. He reportedly arrived Wednesday in Dharmsala -- exhausted, with blistered feet and scrapes on his hands." The article also notes the socio-political difficulties the
Karmapa's departure causes to China and India. "Few people had spoken to him by Friday, but those close to the Dalai Lama administration said he had been unable to get the training and instruction in China
that his religious position requires. Chinese authorities had repeatedly denied a visa to his principal teacher, who resides in Dharmsala." Full text
is at CNN's website. |
January 7 |
Click here to go to the news archive
containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 7, 2000 |
| |
The Nalandabodhi site has more information on the Karmapa
and His relationship to The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche. We will keep you posted here and on the
Nalandabodhi BBS as we learn more. |
|
