But a monk responds: “The rest of the world will see how things are in Zanskar.”

And it’s a good thing, too. The residents of Zanskar don’t have it easy and, too often, are forgotten. Zanskar, you see, is a sort of No Man’s Land.

Found in Northern India on the border of Tibet, Zanskar was once part of Tibet, but became part of Kashmir when the British drew the region’s borders. China, Pakistan, and India have repeatedly since tried to claim Zanskar — often through bloodshed. Buddhists in the region are flanked by non-Buddhists and so are largely ignored when it comes to attention and aid.

“There are no phones, no hospitals, no running water or sewers, no public electricity,” Richard Gere narrates in the film. “There is also no universally affordable education that teaches Tibetan language, culture, and history.”

That, says Geshe Lobsang Yonten, “is why we bring kids from Zanskar all the way to Manali” — where there is a school that teaches those subjects, along with others. Manali, however, is 180 miles away, through the mountaintops. And it’s actually not easy to find candidates to bring.

Zanskari families are understandably torn about giving their kids up to Geshe and the people who work with him to deliver Zanskari children into a brighter future. (The Manali school can take only 15 children, and these children must be 5-8 years old to qualify.) On one hand, they might not see their kids again for 10-15 years — because money is so scarce. On the other hand, no comparable opportunity is likely to show itself.

Geshe himself left Zanskar for a monastery at age 16. So he’s a believer. But it’s not easy: transporting the kids is a treacherous affair — their party could even be attacked by religious extremists. All along the way, altitude sickness, exhaustion, deep snow, rock slides, and hypothermia will remain threats.

All in all, in the journey depicted in the film, Geshe, aide Lobsang Dhamchoe, and their party will take 14 children with them to Manali, walking about 20 miles at a time. After days of trekking, they’ll still have to climb an additional 3,000 feet to get over the treacherous Shinku Pass. When they reach the point of the trip where they can begin to travel by auto, even that will be rough going: the bus they rent will be expensive, unheated, and uninsulated. Geshe, the children, and those who accompany them will ride “frozen, exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry.”

When they do finally arrive in Manali, it’s a beautiful sight. The kids enjoy their first-ever hot showers, their first-ever apples. It really is a new beginning. There, the children are to be enrolled in Drakpo School, run by headmaster Lorey Jangchop Gyaltsen. But the party has arrived in the middle of the school year. Geshe and his crew, though, offer to pay a full year’s tuition, and this leads the school to admit the children — minus one child who is delivered to a monastery, and another, to a nunnery — immediately. The trip is a success!

Not that there isn’t crying. The heartbreak felt upon seeing the families’ separation is palpable early on in the film, and when Geshe and his companions — some of whom are parents of the kids they’ve brought with them — leave Manali, the children are distraught. It’s not easy for the parents either. (It’s not even easy to watch!) But then, as Geshe says:

“Me and my friend Dhamchoe, we are always happy. It doesn’t matter if the weather’s cold, snowing, problems…. We’re always expecting the children will be come well-educated.” Geshe considers all the effort part of living up to his Bodhisattva’s Vow, to save beings from suffering. His success is hard-won, but it’s real; the film wraps up with very positive updates on children we’ve met, and this post-script title card:

So that children no longer leave Zanskar to get a Tibetan education, the monks of Stongde Monastery are building a school [to] combine the best of traditional Tibetan education with the best of modern Western education. The school will be free for all area children.

And activist and Shambhala SunSpace contributor Heidiminx — who has been deeply involved in the film and its cause — shares a video update:

Heidiminx adds:

“If you want to donate and have 100% of your donation go directly to the kids of Zanskar, do it via the cause’s website,  http://savezanskar.org.”

And she offers another great idea — watching the movie with others to spread awareness: “If you want a copy to do your own screening, to help raise funds, email me!” You can do so at minx<AT>builtonrespect.com, or, via Facebook.

“Eyewitness accounts confirm that Chinese security forces used disproportionate force and acted with deliberate brutality during and after unprecedented Tibetan protests beginning on March 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Many violations continue today, including disappearances, wrongful convictions and imprisonment, persecution of families, and the targeting of Tibetans suspected of sympathizing with the protest movement.”

In the report, titled “I Saw It With My Own Eyes,” Human Rights Watch has assembled “more than 200 interviews with Tibetan refugees and visitors conducted immediately after they left China, as well as fresh, not previously reported, official Chinese sources. The report details, through eyewitness testimonies, a broad range of abuses committed by security forces both during and after protest incidents, including using disproportionate force in breaking up protests, proceeding to large-scale arbitrary arrests, brutalizing detainees, and torturing suspects in custody.”

Click here to download the report. And for more, check out the Shambhala Sun’s special page of links and information to help you help Tibet.

Looks like somebody was having a very nice time. And His Holiness was hardly the only one. Throngs of people of all ages braved the rain in Dharamsala, India to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 75th. Thankfully, photographer and writer Saransh Sehgal was there, and shares this and other photos from the very special day. See more photos after the jump.

Images and accompanying text by Saransh Sehgal, Dharamsala, India. All rights reserved.

The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet turned 75 on July 6.  Here he sits along with His Holiness the 17th Karmapa and members of the Tibetan government-in-exile as a part of the ceremony to celebrate his birthday.

Braving the rain, hundreds watched and greeted the Dalai Lama on his 75th birthday eve; colorful umbrellas and Tibetan prayer flags were seen around the Temple.

Young Tibetan school kids sing and play music during the Dalai Lama’s birthday ceremony.

The Dalai Lama watches the festivities with interest as a traditional Tibetan dance is performed.

This traditional Tibetan dance performance was a delight to watch, especially considering that His Holiness is living in exile from the nation of his birth and his people.

Tibetan men and women, in traditional dress, performing a Chupa dance.

Watching the ceremony from on high, Tibetan monks were delighted and prayed for the Dalai Lama’s health and long life.

His Holiness investigates a book received as a birthday present.

Saransh Sehgal is a photographer and writer living in Dharamsala, India. He has written about the Dalai Lama, Tibet and the geopolitics of the region. Some of his work can be seen at: http://www.lightstalkers.org/saransh-sehgal

See also:

Video: Watch the Dalai Lama’s 75th birthday celebration

Say Happy 75th Birthday to the Dalai Lama!

Reincarnations of Tibetan spiritual leaders, including the Dalai Lama, must be approved by the Chinese central government, a senior Communist Party official said. The remarks were among the clearest indications yet that China will appoint a reincarnation of the Dalai Lama after the current Dalai Lama dies, setting off a struggle with exiled leaders of the Chinese territory over Tibetan Buddhism.

Click here to read the full Times report. And pass it on. After all, the better informed we are, the less such a campaign can succeed.

Click through to view further installments of  Heidiminx’s interview with Palden Gyatso. Parts Two through Four are now online.

Part Two:

Part Three:

Part Four:

You can also view these and further installments on Heidiminx’s YouTube channel, here.

And for more on supporting the people of Tibet via great organizations like Heidi’s own Built on Respect, visit our special Helping Tibet Spotlight page.

Yangsi Rinpoche. Photo by Barry Weiss.

By Mark Kram of Mangala Shri Bhuti

Western practitioners rarely have the opportunity to experience directly the unfolding of mysteries that sustain the centuries-old legacy of a vibrant Tibetan Buddhist lineage. Yet just such an opportunity will arrive with the visit this August of Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche (left).

The U.S. visit—called Celebrating the Return—will recognize and honor the coming of age of this illustrious young teacher, whose revered predecessor, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, was so enormously influential in transmitting the Dharma to the West. The event also commemorates the centennial year of Dilgo Khyentse’s birth.
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Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Photo by Matthieu Ricard

For modern Buddhist practitioners, it can be difficult to measure or comprehend the nearly unfathomable significance of Dilgo Khyentse’s life and activities. [More, including the trailer for "Brilliant Moon," a film about Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and a video of Pema Chodron talking about Celebrating the Return, follow.]  His lifetime spanned the era of old Tibet from his youth into middle age, and the post-Chinese era, during which he tirelessly traveled, transmitted teachings, wrote numerous books, sought out and preserved jeopardized manuscripts, supervised the building of monasteries, and advised countless practitioners.

Many have recounted the extraordinary accomplishments of his life, including the Dalai Lama, who speaks with great reverence of the breadth of his knowledge, but especially about his qualities of gentleness and humility.

His legacy in the West remains vibrant and present through the activities of many prominent Tibetan teachers of the current generation who were inspired by his wise guidance and living example. He enthusiastically assumed the role of spiritual teacher for a number of young tulkus (recognized reincarnations) who lived and studied under his close tutelage in the traditional manner of Tibetan Buddhist education. They include, among others, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Namkye Nyingpo Rinpoche, Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Neten Chokling Rinpoche and Sogyal Rinpoche. Matthieu Ricard noted, “his disciples were as numerous as stars in the autumn sky,” and that on his passing in 1991, “we felt that the sun had vanished from the world.”

News of his reincarnation was made public in 1995, when Khyentse Yangsi was two and one–half years old, and his enthronement took place in a joyous celebration of gratitude and excitement in December 1997. There was great certainty about his return to this world, which was foreseen by Trulshik Rinpoche in detail, and confirmed by others who knew him well, including the Dalai Lama. The young Yangsi has blossomed into a thoughtful, poised and distinguished teacher under the loving guidance of Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse’s Dharma heir.

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, who was mentored and raised from the age of a young boy by Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse, has remained closely in touch with Khyentse Yangsi. In frequent visits to Bhutan, Kongtrul Rinpoche has maintained a deeply affectionate relationship, reflecting the close bond that was always present with his teacher. He has spoken of his own wonder and assurance in knowing that his teacher has transcended time and space to be again unmistakably present in this world. Many other disciples have marveled at their own similar realization when they meet Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche. As Kongtrul Rinpoche has frequently told the audience at his teachings, he is continuously guided by the conviction that whatever he has accomplished is owed to the blessings and grace of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, his root teacher and direct link to the Longchen Nyingthik lineage. This feeling has directed the founding and growth of his sangha, Mangala Shri Bhuti, which was the Sanskrit name of his teacher.

As plans were developed for Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche to travel to the West for the first time, Rabjam Rinpoche requested that Kongtrul Rinpoche and Mangala Shri Bhuti be the host for this visit. Read more about this extraordinary occasion at this special website: http://khyentsevisit2010.org. Events will include a Children’s Blessing, a screening of “Brilliant Moon,” a documentary film on the previous Khyentse Rinpoche, and a Long Life Empowerment.

(Here is the trailer for “Brilliant Moon.”)

And here is Pema Chodron talking about Celebrating the Return:

As Heidiminx writes, “While there are numerous sites and TV shows dedicated to the meanings of tattoos, the tattoos of Tibet’s ex-political prisoners have not been well documented. Their experiences are crucial to understand the human rights violations China commits on a daily basis.”

Support and follow Heidiminx’s work here. And visit GuChuSum here.

For more from Heidiminx on SunSpace, click here.

His Holiness will be teaching in Tibetan and live English translation will be provided by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche. Click here for details.

Following on her previous updates (see here and here), Michele Martin brings us all up to speed:

It has been over a month since the earthquake in Tibet that devastated Thrangu Monastery. Ten of Thrangu Rinpoche’s senior monks have had the opportunity to travel to Tibet, where they gave out aid to the survivors, said prayers for the deceased, and helped to assess the damage. April and May are spring in Tibet and as in many places, storms come along and the winds are strong, whipping up the dry earth into whirlwinds. This year the dust from the collapsed buildings has added to the thick clouds, and when the rains come, they cover the tents in mud. Despite the many hardships, the Thrangu monks are continuing to say prayers for the monks and villagers who have passed away. After the traditional forty-nine days of ceremonies, classes will start again at the monastery’s college of higher Buddhist studies, but this time in tents. Donations from abroad have been extremely helpful in providing food, medicine, and shelter and are always welcome.

Care to donate? The Shambhala Sun’s special Helping Tibet Spotlight page is your guide to the organizations that are aiding Tibet for both earthquake- and non-earthquake-related assistance.

To date, Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, Lobsang Nyandak, representative to the Dalai Lama, and Dr. Tatsumura Hillyer of Tibet House are scheduled to speak. Click through for details/tickets.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 25, 6pm to 9pm

WHERE: Rubin Museum of Art (150 West 17th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues)

WHAT: “Light of Compassion” will include: A Gala Reception with open bar; Vikas Khanna’s famously tasty hors d’oeuvres; Silent Auction (starting at 6pm sharp) with unique offerings from the travel, culinary and fashion industries; a special musical performance by Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo (listen to her song “Fereshteh” here); exclusive guided tours of the Rubin Museum galleries; and, a presentation of the impressive building project designed for the children of Manjushree Orphanage. An all around incredible experience — all in the service of a noble cause.

Click here to purchase tickets online.

Please contact John Ullman at 347.302.3112 or email info<at>architecturefortibet.org for more information.