The worldwide digital release has been made possible with the collaboration of The Italian Buddhist Union, Rome, Italy…reports Asian Lite News
As a mark of reverence on the 89th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama, an icon of ahimsa (non-violence) and karuna (compassion), on Saturday, ‘Never Forget Tibet: The Dalai Lama’s Untold Story’ was released worldwide.
The documentary, directed by Jean-Paul Mertinez, explores details of the Nobel Peace Laureate’s incredible escape into exile for the first time on film in his own words, with the Indian political officer who led him to safety — late Havildar Mander Singh.
Featuring the Tibetan community in exile and those with historic ties to Tibet, the film explores the Dalai Lama’s compassion for a world seemingly in crisis today and seeks to find out what can be learnt from his inspirational life story, Tibetan culture and its ancient spirituality.
Inspired by the book ‘An Officer and His Holiness’ by Rani Singh, the film is narrated by British acting legend Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington) and features music from Grammy-nominated artist Anoushka Shankar.
The film is produced by Compassionate Films and the Executive Producers are Templeheart Films, Lyndon Baldock, Gavin Patterson and Rani Singh.
The worldwide digital release has been made possible with the collaboration of The Italian Buddhist Union, Rome, Italy.
The feature-length documentary will be available on world’s leading streaming platforms, including Apple TV+, Amazon and Google Play.
In 1959, the occupying Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa and forced the 14th Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and neighbouring countries.
On reaching India after a three-week-long and treacherous journey, the Dalai Lama first took up residence for about a year in Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.
On March 10, 1960, just before moving to Dharamsala, which also serves as the headquarters of the exiled Tibetan establishment, the Dalai Lama said: “For those of us in exile, I said that our priority must be resettlement and the continuity of our cultural traditions. We, Tibetans, would eventually prevail in regaining freedom for Tibet.”
Currently, the government-in-exile is based in Dharamsala, a town in Himalayan foothills where a community of Tibetans lives in exile with the Dalai Lama, hoping to sustain their struggle to secure complete autonomy in their Chinese-ruled homeland, Tibet.
He expressed hope that peace prevails around the world and everyone enjoys freedom and human rights across humanity…reports Asian Lite News
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) of the Tibetan government in exile held an official ceremony on Sunday to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on the Dalai Lama.
Hundreds of Tibetans gathered at the main Buddhist temple, Tsughlakhang, in Dharamshala to celebrate the occasion. CTA president Pempa Tsering and the speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile read the official statements of the Kashag and the parliament. Artists from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts presented a number of cultural activities.
While addressing the gathering, CTA president Pempa Tsering said, “On this special occasion of the 34th anniversary of the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Kashag offer its deepest gratitude and reverence to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Kashag also wish to extend its warm welcome to the dignitaries and guests who are present with us on this momentous occasion. We would also like to convey our hearty greetings to all the diaspora Tibetan communities and in particular the Tibetans inside Tibet.” He further said, “Last month, the People’s Republic of China’s government released its white paper titled “CPC Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements”. It claims that “the social and economic progress of Xizang epitomizes the nation’s outstanding achievements in development, created on the roof of the world through the Chinese path to modernization”. He called on the Chinese government to end its “blatant violation” of the law on regional national autonomy guaranteed in the Chinese constitution and stop implementing policies aimed at the extermination of the Tibetan identity.
Celebrating the 34th anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize confirmation in Dharamsala. A symbol of compassion and harmony, his legacy continues to inspire positive change worldwide. #DalaiLama#NobelPeacePrizepic.twitter.com/qldCSez1iH
Pempa Tsering said, “We call upon the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end its blatant violation of the Law on Regional National Autonomy guaranteed in the Chinese Constitution and cease policies and programs aimed at extermination of the Tibetan identity.” He added, “If the Chinese government does not put an end to these policies, it will cause irreparable wounds in the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people that will impact the harmonious relationship between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples as neighbours since ancient times. Being a signatory to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the United Nations 75 years ago on 9 October 1948, the CCP should be held accountable for violating the terms of this international law.”
He expressed hope that peace prevails around the world and everyone enjoys freedom and human rights across humanity. He further said, “We pray for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama so that He can spend the rest of his life for the promotion of world peace and moral values. May truth and the non-violent cause of Tibet prevail.” In an interview with ANI, Tenzin Jigdel, Member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, said that they have gathered to commemorate the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize to the 14th Dalai Lama. He said that Dalai Lama’s mesage of peace and non-violence is “important and necessary” amid the multiple crises happening across the world. He said, “Today we are all gathered here to commemorate the 34th anniversary of being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama. This is a very special occasion for all the Tibetans around the world including inside Tibet and as we are all aware and this day and age we are seeing a lot of conflicts and chaos happening all around the world and particularly we’re seeing multiple crisis which is now known as Holy Crisis and in this day, His Holiness message of peace and non-violence is more than ever important and necessary and His Holiness resonates peace and non-violence. Therefore, we are here to celebrate this important occasion and also to amplify the message of peace and nonviolence of His Holiness. The 14th Dala Lama.” He called on the international community to hold China accountable, particularly for the level of suppression that is being witnessed in Tibet. Speaking about Human Rights Day, Tenzin Jigdel said, “It is Human Rights Day of course and Human Rights Day. It’s something that is being celebrated all around the world and as we are aware, the kind of level of suppression we are seeing inside Tibet and China attempt to eradicate the very existence of Tibet and the Tibetan identity is something that we wanted to spread through this medium.”
He further said, “We call upon all the governments to come together and to hold China accountable, especially the level of suppression we are seeing inside Tibet and it it’s repression that is being extended beyond its border. We just now become transnational and therefore we call upon everyone to come together and hold China accountable.” Meanwhile, Dolma Tsering, Deputy speaker of Tibetan Parliament in-exile, said, “Today is the 34th conferment of Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness The Dalai Lama. It is the day when the peace initiative of His Holiness and the Tibetan people are being acknowledged by the world.” “And so this is also a time when we, as disciple of His Holiness, need to contemplate on whether we are going on the path of his non-violence and compassionate way of dealing both in our thought, in our deeds and in our action also,” she told ANI.
She said that Tibetan people are adamant that they are going to show the path of compassion and dialogue to the world despite China’s “torment policies” in Tibet. Asked about her message to China, She said, “It’s for China to know that no matter how torment their policies they are applying in Tibet, Tibetan people are adamant that they are going to show the path of compassion and dialogue to the world.” (ANI)
The Dalai Lama, who resides in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, sent out a video message on the occasion of his birthday…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on the occasion of his 88th birthday.
“Spoke to His Holiness @DalaiLama and conveyed heartfelt greetings to him on his 88th birthday. Wishing him a long and healthy life,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
Spoke to His Holiness @DalaiLama and conveyed heartfelt greetings to him on his 88th birthday. Wishing him a long and healthy life.
The Dalai Lama, who resides in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, sent out a video message on the occasion of his birthday.
“Although I am just one human being in the short term, I aspire to contribute to the world peace in thought, word and deed. While in the long term I pray that everyone may reach Buddhahood, the trumpet state of Omnisense, by ascending the paths and grounds (of Bothisattvas), I rejoice that all our different religious traditions make prayers for the benefit of all,” he said.
The Dalai Lama was born on July 6, 1935, to a farming family in a small hamlet in Taktser in Amdo province in northeastern Tibet.
Earlier named Lhamo Dhondup, he was recognised as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, in 1937 when he was two-years-old.
In 1959, the occupying Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa and forced the Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and neighbouring countries.
'Doctored' Dalai Lama video an instance of 'Chinese cyber bullying', say Tibetans.
McLeodganj is in the northern hill district of Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama…reports Vishal Gulati
A viral video showing the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet and revered as a ‘living god’, asking a boy to “suck” his tongue has shocked the Tibetan community.
Many say the video in which the spiritual leader “kisses a child on the lips” was an attempt to vilify the Nobel Peace laureate who has spent decades trying to peacefully resolve China’s brutal occupation of his homeland Tibet.
“Love is the absence of judgment,” is one of the famous sayings of the Dalai Lama, 87, an icon of ahimsa (non-violence) and karuna (compassion) and the global face of the Tibetan exile movement.
Defending the Dalai Lama over the video row, Penpa Tsering, the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said the Tibetan people were hurt by the insinuations and alleged that “pro-Chinese sources” were trying to tarnish his image.
The Dalai Lama has often been quoted as saying China is built on lies and its officials are hypocrites. Often humorously he puts his index fingers either side of his head to mimic the devil’s horns while saying, “Some Chinese officials describe me as a demon.”
“His Holiness has lived nearly all of his life in the public eye and his life is as pure as of Tibet, the land of snowing mountains,” remarked Lhakpa Kyizom, an octogenarian woman living in McLeodganj.
She has been living in the quaint town with the snow-clad Dhauladhar ranges in the background along with her great grandchildren since the Dalai Lama arrived here in the early 1960s after fleeing the Chinese army crackdown in Tibet.
With fond memories of her homeland, another octogenarian woman Padma Dolma told while pointing towards his beard, “Sometimes he does playfully tug someone’s beard, or long moustache and tickle them, or pat them gently on the cheek or nose or ears. This is just how he normally is, and this shows no more than his genuine love for others.”
McLeodganj is in the northern hill district of Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama.
Joining the democratically elected political leader over the video row, former Tibetan parliamentarian Lobsang Yeshi said for over a month Chinese-sponsored cyber goons toiled rigorously inside Tibet and China to tarnish the image of the Dalai Lama by indicting him for sexual misconduct.
Standing in solidarity with His Holiness and the Tibetan people, who have endured unyielding aggression from China since the spiritual leader was pressured out of his native Tibet in 1959, Tibetan NGO Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) said the complete video, including interviews with the child and his mother, who was on stage throughout the interaction, provides essential context to this situation that has been dramatically sensationalized.
Both the mother and child express their happiness at meeting the Dalai Lama and say it was a “blessing” and “a really great experience.”
The family itself is reported to have sent a letter to the Dalai Lama apologizing for the uproar and expressing their continued, unwavering faith in him.
The Dalai Lama also issued an official apology saying he regrets the incident.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama playfully posing for photos with members of the security team that helped during his four-week visit to Bodhgaya in Bihar on January 28, 2018. (Photo by Ven Tenzin Jamphel)
Amid the video row, Timur Shah handed over The Scheherazade Foundation Gold Medal Award for the 14th Dalai Lama for his humanitarian efforts and propagating peace in the world at the Office of Tibet in London on Friday.
A group of Tibetan leaders and activists from across the globe remarked, “Language, culture, and context define how people view any given situation. For Tibetans who see the video clip of the Dalai Lama’s interaction with a child at a public event in February, it is clear he is displaying his affection, warmth, and humour. It is through a lifetime of familiarity with the Dalai Lama that we understand his words and actions.”
Writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue, who was born in exile and recently trekked the Himalayas to create awareness about the 70 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet, said 26 years ago he had his first audience with His Holiness.
“His Holiness listened to my story (on sneaking into Tibet) in every detail with a childlike wondering. It was rare for an India-born graduate to go to Tibet and return alive. He then called me ‘pa-tuk’, little hero. I was 23. That was 1997. Since then I have never stopped working for Tibet.”
Tsundue, known for his trademark red headband, had sneaked into Tibet secretly and alone, from Ladakh to fight China. He got arrested by the Chinese border police who interrogated and tortured him and locked him up in a prison.
Later when they couldn’t prove any of the charges against him, they threw him out of Tibet.
Firmly believing that the Tibetans are deeply hurt by all negativity directed at His Holiness, top Tibetan leader Penpa Tsering said: “Who is the victim? The mother is not the victim, the boy is not the victim. They are not complaining, the victim here is His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”
Reacting to the media storm, thousands of people in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh last week joined a peace march in support of the Dalai Lama.
On March 31, 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama entered India from Chutangmu, a small Assam Rifles outpost near Tawang. In his biography, the Dalai Lama mentioned that when he first stepped into India after escaping from Lhasa he experienced “freedom”.
According to a vision paper named “Securing Tibet’s Future”, released last week by Penpa Tsering, Tibetans face an existential threat to their culture and identity due to the repressive genocidal policies of China.
“Even though the Kashag (Cabinet) wishes to resume contact with the Chinese government, it depends on whether the Chinese leadership has the political will to resolve the conflict,” it says.
