Tibetan Greenhouse Dugout: Bench #3
Created | Updated Feb 24, 2008
h2g2 Friends of Tibet
Stuff to be found on Bench #3...
Thoughts on the World Trade Center Tragedy
It's hard to know how to begin to digest all that has happened this week, the tragic events that have led to so many deaths.
I've been reading some of the comments posted by our fellow Researchers. Most express shock and revulsion, as one might expect. But there are those who have chosen to say things like 'it served them right' and 'they had it coming', terrible sentiments that can only have come of not having seen enough of life to know better.
Whatever one's political or religious views, however one feels about the lifestyle choices of financiers and stock traders, one should be sensitive to the fact that what has transpired is a monumental human tragedy.
Comparisons to other events, like the oppression and death in the occupied territories, the tyranny and destruction in Tibet, or the slaughter of innocents in the Balkans and Africa, may or may not be valid. But they entirely fail to come to terms with the true face of human suffering and loss. Those who died or were maimed, those who lost loved ones, share the same pain as those who suffer anywhere, because they are human beings. The fragility of human life is the basis of all that we have in common, the foundation upon which our hopes and dreams arise. As terrible as the events of 11 September are, the real tragedy would be to lose sight of that, and reduce those who have suffered to mere symbols.
It saddens me that, when we have a chance to help, so often we choose not to. In the grand scheme of things perhaps what we do here is of little significance. But it is not entirely insignificant either. Each of us has the opportunity to be constructive, to add something to the forward progress of human life by raising the ethical standard in our own behaviour.
A part of that is choosing to set aside the satisfaction of being 'right' for the sake of those who are in need of condolence, of placing kindness and compassion ahead of dogma and politics. There may be an awful lot wrong with American foreign policy and, indeed, with the way that Western civilization has historically trampled on the aspirations of most of the rest of the world. But choosing to ignore the basic human tragedy of what has taken place in New York this week in order to attack American culture is wrong.
We have been given a chance to reach across cultural, religious, and ethnic divides; and it's a shame that more of us haven't noticed. I'm not saying that what is being argued is wrong, simply that it is wrong to argue. We should consider seriously how good it feels to make other people feel bad, and ask ourselves if we are not part of the problem.
I believe it is less positive at this time, in this venue, to be discussing blame and retribution than it would be to think in terms of how to contribute something towards helping those who have suffered this calamity.
In a general sense, perhaps it is less constructive to think in terms of 'who' and 'what' than 'why' and 'how'. That is to say, we may know who has hurt us, but we should ask ourselves why, and, looking beyond the short-term solution (or sense of immediate gratification), how we can work to resolve our differences. This means looking beyond slogans and symbols towards a future in which people can co-exist in peace.
Asking 'why can't we all just get along' isn't silly and one shouldn't be ridiculed for asking it, because therein lies the answer to our current dilemma. For the present, however, we should ask ourselves how what we write affects those who read it, and concentrate on helping those among us who may benefit from a little support.
It seems to me that the way we interact in venues such as this is another aspect of human relations, no more and no less than high diplomacy, terrorism, and warfare. There is much that is hateful in the cyber-world, but also a great deal of good has come of the opportunity to freely exchange ideas with those we would otherwise only know as the two dimensional caricatures depicted in the media.
What's important for us is to do what we can to preserve the sense of commonality and shared values with the people we are tempted to call enemies. And the first and most obvious way of doing that is to turn up the empathy values of our monitors when we interact with other Researchers. Instead of pontificating about American foreign policy, when you have the chance to relate to an American Researcher, find out what it feels like to be an American at this time. Similarly, take the opportunity to learn from our friends living in the Middle East. No matter who we are, we may encounter differences which cannot be reconciled. But, in the final analysis, we are all human beings, whose basic needs and desires are the same.
International politics and the choices of nations is reflected in what ordinary people, like ourselves, say. But what we say also contributes to the shape that international relations take. We are tiny specks in the big picture, to be sure. But, tiny as we are, we are the parts which make up the whole.
It is vitally important that we are willing to embrace difference and look for constructive solutions to the world's problems. We should ask ourselves why we choose to talk about war and grand strategy (like a game) when we have the opportunity to relate to each other as human beings. We have to identify that our own short-comings are a significant part of the global problem. The first step towards a better future is wanting one, and nothing is to be gained by pessimism. Both are self-fulfilling prophecies.
There are lots of people about who are still capable of putting aside their personal likes and dislikes, their pride and their prejudices, in order to see the world through someone else's eyes. And, in this time of destruction and despair, this is something to take courage in, to celebrate. Even the television news coverage has shown us the depth of compassion that people of all kinds are capable of.
The pain of those poor souls, standing in line with photographs of their loved ones, is enough to break your heart. But those people also show us the strength that human beings are capable of in the face of adversity. Theirs is the true courage, more than the grim-faced politicians and the hawkish proponents of revenge. They have looked disaster squarely in the face and allowed their love and compassion to flourish. They are facing this disaster on human terms, and have no need of symbols or slogans.
The challenge for the rest us is to face their pain and courage without turning it into a symbol of something else, without taking the cowards way out. The fight against terrorism is important. But the first battle in that war is with ourselves.
In Memory of Ani Pachen la
Ani Pachen (1933-2002), better known as 'Tibet's Warrior Nun', passed away on Saturday, 2 February, at her home in Dharamsala, India. She escaped into exile after 21 years in jail for leading her Khampa warriors against the Chinese army. It's hard to imagine anyone wanting to hurt this sweet and tiny person. But people did hurt her... a lot and for a long time. Nevertheless, Ani Pachen la1 had a smile to rival a sunrise. She endured the worst of human cruelty and triumphed, living and loving and vanquishing the darkness with a smile that shone from her enormous heart.
She was born the daughter of a chieftain in Tibet's eastern province of Kham. As a girl, she wanted to become a nun and devote herself to practising Dharma. Unfortunately, as the only child of a powerful and influential family, she was expected to follow a more worldly path, marrying and cementing the bonds of local family ties. Nevertheless, she persisted; and, eventually, her father agreed to let her join an aunt at a nearby nunnery.
Her dream had come true... but, sadly, it was not to last. The Chinese occupation of Eastern Tibet, and her father's death soon afterwards, forced Ani Pachen la to leave the nunnery and take up the fight.
The guerilla fighting in the mountains and valleys of eastern Tibet was ferocious. Whole villages had taken to the hills and were fighting desperately to survive. Chinese troops punished those who were left behind severely. The Khampas struck at supply caravans, camps, and whatever targets the Chinese offered. Inevitably though, the sheer weight of resources that the Chinese were able to bring to bear smothered the resistance. Many were killed, and many more were captured, as they struggled, half starved, towards the relative safety of central Tibet. Ani Pachen la was among those who were captured.
As Ani Pachen la had played a leading role in the resistance movement, she was dealt with harshly after the Chinese soldiers captured her. She spent 21 years in various prisons, being beaten and tortured. At first, she was the only female political prisoner. But soon many other women joined her. Very many of them were nuns, who had been arrested because they represented a challenge to Chinese authority in Tibet.
Ani Pachen la survived her ordeal in prison, and was eventually released. But tragedy was far from played out. Having survived the brutality and privation of prison life, she returned to her home village to find that nearly all of her friends and family were dead. Life on the outside had hardly been any better than life inside the prisons. All of Tibet was really one big prison, as Tibetans were forced to work for starvation rations, and were killed on the mere suspicion of political transgressions or 'backward thinking'.
After her release from prison in 1981, she continued to take part in protests for human rights and freedom. In 1988, fearful of being arrested again, Ani Pachen la decided to escape into exile, even though this would mean dragging her damaged body through some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world and risking certain death if she were to be caught. She trudged through deep snow for nearly a month, until she reached Nepal. Eventually, she succeeded in reaching Dharamsala, India, the home of the Dalai Lama and the government of Tibet in exile.
The first impression of Ani Pachen la was invariably how radiant she was. Her diminutive form seemed to glow with life. As one who has spent a significant part of her life suffering terrible, unimaginable hardships and heartbreaks she might easily be forgiven for becoming a shy and bitter introvert, showing a hard shell to the world that has treated her so cruelly. But this is far from the truth. Her smile was pure joy; her love and zest for life was unmistakable. This was a woman who had triumphed over evil.
Ani Pachen la continued to fight for truth and justice for Tibet until the day she died. She did so by travelling around the world, speaking to diverse audiences about her terrible experiences and the plight of the Tibetan people. Her autobiography Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun2 is a moving account of her life.
Grand River Musings
Well, I suppose that "Grand River" is not a very original name for a river which, by global standards, is perhaps not that grand after all. I simply happen to live near this river, and so happen to favour it over all other rivers simply because chance has put it within a short walking distance of where I sit at this very moment. Even so, I probably wouldn't care enough to write about it if it wasn't a beautiful river with a multitude of personalities, and if it wasn't the focus of many of my favourite memories of a time when I could run fast and see my feet just by looking down, when pretty girls grew in the woods like elves and didn't care when their clothes fell off.
Almost anything factual that I could say about the Grand River I have already said with an Entry bearing the equally uninspired title The Grand River, Ontario, Canada. I have already said, for example, that it flows 290km north to south from Kitchener-Waterloo to Lake Erie, right through the middle of Southern Ontario. Still, I might think of something new. Here goes...
One new bit of information is that the provincial government has decided to pay attention to the Grand River and its contribution to the growth of the region by declaring this bit of Ontario as "Grand River Country" in an attempt to entice Americans (cutting off the corner between Buffalo and Detroit) from the highway, and enticing some of their money out of their grasp before they disappear over the border again. That's a bit cynical, perhaps. It is nice to see big pictures of the river I played in as a boy as I drive home from work.
When I was that boy, it used to be illegal to play in the Grand, because it was considered too polluted to be healthy. It was certainly never as dirty as a lot of other rivers though. I think the main concern was bacteria bred from the sewage of the cities along its route more than any particular industrial nastiness. There was never any danger of the river bursting into flames, for example, as other rivers have famously been known to do.
Perhaps it is still illegal to go for a swim... I don't know. But the Grand River is a lot cleaner looking than it used to be; and there is now a lot more in the way of wildlife to be seen along its banks. Wennaworalad, there weren't beavers waddling about, biting trees, and slapping the water with their flat tails. Now there are. And there are a lot more white tailed deer to be seen too. There seems to be a lot more fish, as well, mainly because there are a lot more fish-eating birds, like great blue herons and even the occasional osprey. This is a bit funny, if you think about it, because the birds aren't responsible for the increase in fish numbers, except the number that have been eaten by birds. Nevertheless, you have to take their word for it, because the fish are hard to see most of the time.
My old friend Stuart's dad used to say that more kids got sick from backyard pools than from any ill-effects caused by swimming in the river. And he was a doctor. I think that the river's reputation back then for being a dirty embarrassment was probably ill-deserved. Just as nowadays its new role as a tourist attraction is a little overstated. People dream up these notions and the river just continues to flow along. Not many of these people, I suspect, spend much time actually watching it flow by.
That's really the thing that I like best about the Grand. There are a dozen places within a few minutes walk, where the river simply shrugs off the attention of politicians and the concern of environmentalists, the police, and over-protective parents; where the river is the same as it ever was; and whatever nonsense transpired over the past two hundred years may just as well not have happened.
Back to Tibetan Greenhouse Dugout
Back to Main Bench (#1),
Bench #2,
Bench #4
