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- RUNNING in a ball of flames for some 50 metres, Jampa Yeshi, a Tibetan in his late-20s, screamed and then collapsed in front of a crowd of journalists and fellow protesters gathered near India’s parliament, in Delhi. It was early afternoon on March 26th as several hundred Tibetans held placards, some proclaiming that “Tibet is burning”, while calling for freedom for their countrymen across the northern border. They tried to beat out the flames on the young man’s body, then police rushed him to hospital.
photo taken from article
Setting ones self on fire to shed light on the sufferings of your people seems insane to me. I respect many of the tenants of Buddhism but these types of acts make them seem as big of zealots as the other religious people of the world. FAIL if you ask me.
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lessismore · 4628 days ago · link ·
- In the mid-1970s, Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, told a Polish newspaper that he thought he would be the last Dalai Lama. In a later interview published in the English language press he stated, "The Dalai Lama office was an institution created to benefit others. It is possible that it will soon have outlived its usefulness."[40] These statements caused a furor amongst Tibetans in India. Many could not believe that such an option could even be considered. It was further felt that it was not the Dalai Lama's decision to reincarnate. Rather, they felt that since the Dalai Lama is a national institution it was up to the people of Tibet to decide whether the Dalai Lama should reincarnate.
Beyond that, the meaning of self immolation is lost. The pictures of tibetan monks sitting still as stone is one of the most powerful messages ever recorded; its a human being showing almost superhuman strength in the face of horrifying pain and a gruesome death. The message was inspiring; it showed that the strength of their faith and resolve was greater than anything the Chinese could hope to do.
When the person cries out in pain, it undermines that message. It no longer holds a spiritual meaning; the protest is then political rather than religious in nature. Regardless of whether or not you think it'd right, humans tend to sympathize and admire great acts of self-sacrifice. The priest who starves himself during a famine is more of a hero than the one who demands stiff grain tribute, and even if the grain ultimately feeds vastly more people. Not making judgements, just talking about the public spin self immolation has
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thenewgreen · 4628 days ago · link ·
I agree, this image does a whole lot more to garner my support than that of someone running on fire and in pain. The mental resolve it would take to remain calm under such pain and certainty of death is at the very least interesting if not somehow admirable. You're assertion that it changes it from a religious protest to a political one seems apt.
lessismore · 4628 days ago · link ·
Tenzin Gyatso should just come out and condemn such actions.
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lessismore · 4628 days ago · link ·
He doesn't do it because it does not serve his interests of getting his "kingdom" back. So he lets these folks sacrifice their young lives for an ideal that they might or might not totally understand. There is a "mythic" misconception that Tibet under the Dalai Lama regimes was a holy peaceful utopia when the truth is far from it.
Historically, Tibet under the various Dalai Lamas was nothing more than a serfdom where over 95% of the serfs had to give most of their yields to their "holy" leaders who lived lives of luxury while everyone else practically starved. It was such a "holy" and "ideal" government, even Nazi Germany saw many similarities between them and sought to learn lessons from them. Here is what it was like.
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thenewgreen · 4628 days ago · link ·
Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. The Dalai Lama's have definitely done a nice job cultivating a reputation of distinction, separate from earthly desires. My perception of the Dalai Lama started here
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barradarcy · 4553 days ago · link ·
IMO, It's either this or suicide bombing....you really need to look at these people and ask yourself what in gods name have they been put through to want to do this?
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barradarcy · 4551 days ago · link ·
Gandhi actually served in quite a few wars so this may have changed his views enough to stop him going this way (I don't know though)....but if you are being oppressed or put through something (such as war) and you witness some pretty horrific things (and may even lose family)...you won't really be in a possition to ask yourself if being on fire is such a good idea or will get you anywhere. You're more likely to want to do something such as this because it's either this or living the same thing and never having a way out.