"Throughout the course of the Chinese occupation, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have been imprisoned or killed by Chinese police. Yet the Dalai Lama continues to regard the Chinese as his greatest teachers. As he says: "For a person who cherishes compassion and love, the practice of tolerance is essential;
and for that, an enemy is indispensable."
The integrity of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people stand as models for us all.
The people of Tibet and their nonviolent struggle are crucial for all peoples.
The Tibetans will not resort to guns or bombs. It is nonviolence in its
purest, and most essential, form. They are teaching us a lesson; setting a precedent which we must strive to follow. There is nothing more honorable, effective and healthy than compassionate nonviolence in response to human error and brutality. For their strength, we owe them our admiration and support."
the inner world and don't make peace with ourselves.
World peace must develop out of inner peace. Without
inner peace it is impossible to achieve world peace.
weapons themselves do not act. They have not come out
of the blue. Man has made them. But even given those
weapons, those terrible weapons, they cannot act by
themselves. As long as they are left alone in storage,
they cannot do any harm. A human being must use them.
Someone must push the button. Satan, the evil powers,
cannot push that button. Human beings must do it."
"How do we create peace and happiness? With weapons?
Of course not. With money? In some cases, but not all.
But in love, in sharing people's suffering, yes.
Good motivation is a sound basis for peace."
"To be aware of a single shortcoming within ourselves
is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in
somebody else. Rather than speaking badly of people
and in ways that will produce friction and unrest
in their lives, we should practice a purer perception
of them, and speak of their good qualities. If you
find yourself slandering anybody, just fill your mouth
with excrement. That will break you of the habit quickly
enough." "The consequences of karma are definite:
negative actions always bring about suffering,
and positive actions always bring about happiness.
If you do good, you will have happiness,
if you do bad, you yourself will suffer."
H H Dalai Lama
your opinions, to write open criticisms of the government,
to gather together in peaceful demonstration, to shout "FREE TIBET!"
It is up to those of us who live in the free world to speak out on
behalf of those who do not have the freedom to do so for themselves.
We must take advantage of our tremendous opportunity to exercise our democratic freedom to vote, to lobby our representatives and to createchange where there is injustice.
If we continue to apply grassroots pressure, we CAN free Tibet.
Please take action now: [refer to links at Milerapa's site]
* write to world leaders ,* register to vote,* free Tibetan political prisoners,* donate to the cause.
funds for helping the Tibetan people.
[excerpt]Adam Yauch, one of Milarepa's founders, explained it this way in the
first issue of Grand Royal Magazine:
"...Maybe it's because the Tibetan people are so peaceful and won't
fight back, even as the Chinese rape and torture them, prevent them
from practicing their religion and destroy their monasteries...
Maybe seeing films of Tibetan monks and nuns, who have taken vows
not to harm another living creature, being beaten was what got me.
"Or maybe it's that I've met some of these people and see how happy they are,
despite what's going on. Laughing all the time without the same agenda of
worries that so many of us carry in our modern society. Or maybe it's that
see their society as an example of how people can live in peace, working
towards enlightenment. An example or blueprint of a way that a culture
can operate in harmony with itself and the land."
For thousands of years human beings have used the teachings of nonviolence
not only as a guideline for spiritual and ethical behavior, but as a message
for social change. The courageous principles demonstrated by figures like
Thoreau, King, Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama stand as an example for all of us.
Throughout history, people like these have refused to take up arms in
their struggles and have insisted that all their actions be motivated
by compassion and love. Nonviolent action continues throughout the world
today in places like Burma, Nigeria, Tibet and here in America.
..."Since 1959, The Tibetan people have maintained a nonviolent struggle against
the Chinese government's brutal occupation. They have lobbied, demonstrated,
and gone on hunger strike to further their cause for freedom. Most refuse
to kill. Despite this, the Dalai Lama emphasizes love and compassion
