Wednesday, May 21, 2008

KELMARSH AND THE DALAI LAMA

KELMARSH AND THE DALAI LAMA


Reliable sources tell me that those allegedly amiable fellows at Kelmarsh Buddhist Centre are planning on protesting against the Dalai Lama at his appearances in the UK.

WHY?

They may not recognise him as a legitimate spiritual leader. So-called Tibetan Buddhism is a complex and internecine thing with many different schools; the differences between them may not be as great as, say, the difference between a stone and a flower, but the adherents of the various traditions feel their separate identities keenly.

But the Dalai Lama IS accepted by the majority of Tibetans as the true head of State. That is, the head of the oppressed, bullied, beaten, beleaguered, occupied Tibetan State. And by openly challenging the Dalai Lama's legitimacy at a time when, because of the Olympics, the world's media is watching, the good people of Kelmarsh are handing the Chinese occupiers a propaganda coup the Tibetan people can ill afford.

Have a rethink, Kelmarsh, I urge you. The whole world isn't a comfortable, secluded leafy hermitage like your own, protected by a basically decent police force and a democratically accountable government. To paraphrase Bob Geldof, the people the Dalai Lama represents in Tibet are dying NOW.

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