It is worthy to give Tibet wider autonomy: Lama Ole Nydahl

                             

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“The allegation that Dalai Lama could organize civil unrest in Tibet is completely wrong,” Buddhist Lama Ole Nydahl told REGNUM correspondent. The Lama is on a visit to Moscow on invitation of his disciples. He commented on accusations against Dalai Lama of China's authorities. They suggested that he incited public disorder to disrupt Olympic Games in Beijing. <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“I do not think that Dalai Lama is aggressive. He wants everybody to be happy, for he says that even Islam is a religion of peace,” stated Lama Ole Nydahl. Answering a question about his view of events going on in Tibet, Lama Ole Nydahl said: “I have spent 4 years in Himalaya, and have been working for the good of Buddhism for 40 years, and I can affirm that I have not once in my life met a single Tibetan who would want the Chinese to be in Tibet.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“About 7.5 mln of the Chinese and a little over 6 mln of Tibetans live there now, and it is very difficult. Moreover, people whom the Chinese send to live in Tibet are most often Muslims, and they are known to be difficult to live with. These people are being brought in as traders, so Tibetan traders have no advantages.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“Situations like this one occur in Tibet frequently. Tibetans have been oppressed since 1959, and since 1950-1951 in the Eastern Tibet. This is very difficult for the Tibetan people, and if the Chinese helped Tibet without trying to control the country, it would have been a paradise there.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“However, it looks like the Asians do not think this way. Lhasa is now full of Chinese military, and there are very many Chinese soldiers in Tibet. This is a regular unpleasant story of people who shoot from semiautomatic and automatic guns at people who throw stones at them – all this is very ugly.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“I do not know what will be the use of the Olympic games in China if the Chinese do not give Tibetans more freedom, so that they could decide their country's affairs on their own. The first important step for the Chinese could be allowing Tibetans to teach their children in the Tibetan Language. It is just worthy to give more autonomy to Tibet, more rights to the people who live there, including the religious people.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“Tibetans are very freedom-loving people, they are few in number and the territory of the country is huge. And the Chinese are used to the absence of freedom, for there are many of them who live in a relatively confined territory. The mentality of the Chinese and the Tibetans is so different that it is hard to imagine. These are completely different peoples.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“We in the West all think that all Asians are alike. But they are actually very different. The Tibetans are very individualistic, and the Chinese have a proverb: 'Each nail that sticks out too much has to be nailed down.' It is such a pity that such events are happening there now, for I have many friends both among the Chinese and among the Tibetans.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

“There should be found a way for them to cooperate. This is the only chance to establish peace, but this process should start with trust. I do not think that Tibet could economically exist separately from China, if it separated. Instead of thinking of separating China and Tibet, we need to help the peoples to start respecting each other and treat each other well.” <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->

To remind, Lama Ole Nydahl who has founded over 600 centers for meditation around the world (about 70 in Russia) represents tradition of Karma Kagyu – one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism.